Sweet Boy

Evan LOVES Preston. He is constantly giving Preston kisses and he likes to show him off wherever we go. He also likes to feed Preston. The other morning he came into our bedroom and found me feeding Preston and he immediately asked if he could have a turn. He spent several minutes lovingly feeding Preston and then he burped him! It was SO cute. I am really glad that I was able to take a few pictures of this special time.

Muddy Fanatic

Carl ran his first mud race this past weekend. John, Terri, and Susan (Carl's boss) also ran the race. (Susan lost a bet with Carl, so she had to run in the mud race, even though she really did not want to!) The Muddy Fanatic was held near John and Terri's house, so while Evan played with Levi, Luke, and David, Preston and I went to watch the race. The race took longer than expected, but all four racers had a great time.

The racers all posed before the race, when everyone is nice and clean!

Carl and Susan

John and Terri

Carl and Susan pose for a picture during the final obstacle.

Carl, Susan, John and Terri crawling through the last obstacle during the mud race.

The racers were tired and muddy, but they all posed for pictures after the race.

Carl and Susan

John and Terri

Carl, Susan, John and Terri

Preston was happy to go and cheer for Daddy, but he slept almost the entire time we were at the race!

Last Day of 3 Year Old Preschool

On Tuesday Evan had his last day of 3 year old preschool. Carl, Preston and I got to attend his program, which made Evan feel very special. Evan and his friends did a great job singing and I was so happy to be able to attend another preschool event! After the program, there was a reception. Evan and his friends presented Mrs. Arbough with a scrapbook of the year, which she loved. He also got to eat LOTS of doughnut holes! (I think he ate about 15! He did eat some grapes though, so it wasn't a totally unhealthy snack!)

Evan had a really successful preschool year. He made many new friends and he learned many new things. We are so proud of all of his accomplishments! Mrs. Arbough was an excellent teacher and Even LOVED being in her class. We are looking forward to a relaxing summer and then our last year of preschool will start in the fall!

Here are some pictures from our morning at preschool. (Unfortunately, none of the pictures of Evan and his friends singing were clear. We did order a DVD of the program though, so we will always be able to see his wonderful performance!)

Mommy and Evan

Daddy and Evan

Evan and Caleb are such good friends. (This picture cracks me up!)

Mrs. Arbough and Evan

Mother's Day 2012

I really enjoyed Mother's Day this year. Carl got up with Evan, so I only had to wake up to feed Preston and then we both went right back to sleep. (I REALLY enjoyed getting to "sleep in!") When I got up later in the morning, Carl and Evan gave me my cards and my gift. Evan and Carl chose a beautiful fleur de lis necklace for me, which I love. I also really liked my cards. (Evan signed his name and also tried to sign Preston's name! How sweet!) We spent the rest of the morning and afternoon here at home. I enjoyed the time to relax and be with my family. In the evening we went to Aunt Heather's house. We ate dinner with her family, as well as with Grammy and Granddaddy. It was a great Mother's Day and I definitely felt very loved and very appreciated!


I was so happy to celebrate my first Mother's Day as a mom of TWO sweet boys.

Heather and I had fun celebrating with Mom (Grammy) on Mother's Day.

I enjoyed watching my two big boys play on Mother's Day.

We celebrated Mother's Day with Bonnie Mom a few days after Mother's Day by eating dinner at the club. Evan was in a super good mood and Preston was awake for awhile, which made the night really fun and enjoyable. Everyone had a good time and we enjoyed celebrating Bonnie Mom.

Kentucky Derby Fun

We had lots of fun during Derby this year. Evan got to ride a horse at preschool and he also had a Derby party. We took Evan to The Great Steamboat Race as well, which was lots of fun. (Preston was too little to go to the boat race, so Melinda Arbough watched him for us. We missed Preston, but it was nice to have some special time with Evan.) Carl got to go to Churchill Downs several times with work, which he really enjoyed. On Derby day we relaxed here at the house. Bonnie Mom, Grandpa, Aunt Rachel, Uncle Teddy, Caroline, Terri, Levi, Luke and David came to visit and watch the race. We had a really good time, even though no one picked I'll Have Another as the winner of the race.

Evan liked riding the horse at preschool. (I had so much fun going to watch him!)

Evan enjoyed his class party. He had fun playing lots of different Derby themed games and eating ice cream. He was most happy that I was able to make it to the party though!

Evan and Daddy sat down to watch the boats begin the race.

The Belle of Louisville

We cheered for the Belle of Louisville to win the race. (It must have worked because she won!)

Evan was so excited to ride the helicopter again this year! He had LOTS of fun!

Evan enjoyed the rides at the boat race. He rode the fun slide LOTS of times!

I had so much fun riding the Ferris wheel with Evan.

Carl and I enjoyed Derby Day. (I was really happy because I fit into my regular clothes and felt great!)

Preston and Mommy

Preston had fun getting all dressed up for his very first Derby.

Evan learned how to swing on Derby Day! What an accomplishment!

Thunder Over Louisville and Preston's Early Arrival

We were very excited to be able to go to Thunder Over Louisville this year. (We were unable to go last year because Evan was very sick.) Evan loves the planes and fireworks and I was excited to spend some quality family time together. We headed downtown early in the afternoon. We parked on River Road and then took a leisurely walk downtown while watching the air show. We arrived at Waterfront Park, where there were LOTS of rides, so we let Evan ride for awhile and then headed over to get a snack at The Chow Wagon. We purchased our Derby pins and were thrilled to find that they were both GOLD! Unfortunately, we couldn't enter The Chow Wagon because we had food and drinks in our bag, but that was o.k because we were really happy about our pins! We then walked over to Carl's building where we watched more of the air show and relaxed. At dinner time we went over to Impellizeri's for pizza, which was really good. After dinner we headed back to Carl's building to watch more of the air show.


Evan was really happy to see all of the cool planes during the air show! (Carl and I were pretty impressed too. Those planes are pretty cool and the pilots are very talented!)

The rides were super fun for Evan this year. He had a blast!

The service at dinner was slow, so Evan got to play some video games while we waited for our food. He was REALLY happy when he won the mini games!

Watching the air show after dinner and waiting for the fireworks turned out to be VERY exciting. My water broke! After gathering our belongings and making a few phone calls, we headed downstairs to try to get to our car. Unfortunately, no one was able to help us. They just wanted to call an ambulance, which was not necessary. Luckily, I saw a taxi and it was available. We hopped in and the driver tried to get us to our car. By this time lots of the roads were closing and it seemed like we were not going to be able to get to the car. I was starting to be pain, so we just asked the driver to take us to the hospital.

When we arrived at the hospital, Evan was still pretty bummed at not being able to see the fireworks. Heather comforted him and then Grandpa arrived and took Evan up to the hospital roof to see the fireworks. (Grandpa really saved the day!) I got registered and then settled in the triage area. Dr. Bilotta explained that they wanted to try to let me digest my recently eaten dinner before the c-section. That meant we were going to try to wait until about 4:00 in the morning for Preston's birth. We were taken to a nice labor and delivery room where I was given an epidural to help with the pain. It was then time to sleep, so we said goodnight to everyone and tried to rest. (It was REALLY hard for me to say goodnight to Evan. I knew he was in great hands with Grammy and Granddaddy, but he was so sad to leave. I felt better when Grammy and Granddaddy called to say Evan fell asleep before they left the hospital.) Carl was able to sleep a bit, but I was just too excited to sleep! I was REALLY excited when the clock in the room said 4:00 and the nurse came in to start getting me ready!

During the next hour and a half, Carl and I got ready for Preston's arrival. Carl didn't have too much to do, other than get on his fancy operating room outfit. (The zipper broke, so he was able to wear scrubs instead of the Elvis jumpsuit!) I got lots more medications, including more medication from the epidural. Dr. Evans arrived and I was super excited to see her. (She came in on a day off to deliver Preston!) I was soon wheeled into the operating room and before long Preston was delivered! He was born at 5:31 a.m. He weighed 7 pounds and 11 ounces and was 20 1/2 inches long. I was SO happy that he was healthy! (Evan was quickly whisked off to the N.I.C.U after his birth.) The rest of the surgery went well and we were soon take to the recovery room.

I enjoyed getting to hold Preston in the recovery room for the first time. Both Carl and I said he looked a lot like Evan, just with dark hair. We also enjoyed seeing Barbara Shallcross, who was a bit disappointed that she wasn't at work when Preston was born. (She was my nurse with Evan's birth and was going to be my nurse for Preston's birth when he was scheduled to arrive on May 1st.)

Once I was in my regular hospital room, everyone came to visit. Carl and I were especially excited to see Evan! He was REALLY excited to see Preston. He held him for awhile and happily posed for pictures. (He was a VERY proud big brother!) Of course, we were happy to see the rest of our family too, who all came that day to see Preston.

I was SO excited to FINALLY be at the hospital! I was also REALLY excited that Preston would be arriving soon!

Evan was excited to meet Preston. (He did not want to leave my side!)

This was the sign outside of our operating room. It was so cute!

Carl and I were so happy to meet Preston!

Daddy and Preston

Mommy and Preston

Preston

Evan was excited to meet Preston on Sunday morning. Here is our first photo as a family of four.

We should note that Carl's dad said we should not go to Thunder Over Louisville in case I went into labor. Dr. Evans said it wouldn't be a problem for us to go and since I was still about 3 weeks away from my due date, we decided it would be safe to go. We were all shocked that I actually did go into labor that night! It does make for a very interesting birth story for Preston and we will never again go to Thunder over Louisville without remembering this very special night!

Here is a copy of what Carl sent to his co-workers. I think it is pretty funny and sums up the night.

Preston arrived yesterday morning at 5:31! Though he came a little early, both he and Rachael are doing great! He weighed 7 pounds 11 ounces and was 20.5 inches long.

His early arrival made for an interesting weekend. As such, I wanted to thank a few folks that helped us get through the night:

Thanks to the girl that sold us two Pegasus pins (both gold!) who was evidently trying to tip us off that it was our lucky day.

Thanks to Alan for letting us use his office to watch Thunder, but apologies for the state of the chair that Rachael was sitting in when this whole process started.

Thanks to Erminia for cleaning up after us while we rushed out of the building.

No thanks to the police who would not help us get to our car and said the only option was to get an ambulance.

Thanks to the cab driver that took us to the hospital.

Thanks to Evan, who had to settle for watching the fireworks from the roof of the hospital but didn’t hold it against Preston too much.

And most of all, thanks to Rachael, who didn’t kill me despite that fact that I wasn’t exactly sober during much of this.

In the above e-mail I would have expected Carl to thank me for having Preston too. =)

Here is a copy of what I sent to my co-workers.

Preston Matthew Koontz is here! We were a bit shocked that he came early, but we are so grateful! He weighs 7 pounds and 11 ounces and is 20 1/2 inches long. I think he looks like his brother Evan. =)