Sickness

The flu hit the Kempe house this week. Shepherd got it from school and I'm pretty sure I got a mild case of it too. Poor Shep couldn't get the flu shot because he's allergic to eggs, so when someone in his class got the flu he got it right away too. At first he was faring pretty well, but the last coupel of days have been ROUGH! Sick toddler + Mr. Independence + lots of energy + not talking yet = hard work!
I brought him a chocolate milk home after work the other day and there was a melt down for several hours because I wouldn't let him drink it out of the box because he kept squirting it everywhere. Despite being so fussy, we've felt very sorry and concerned for the little guy and hope he's on the mend. Here he is asleep on the couch one afternoon. This would normally never happen!

Ingrid has not gotten sick (yet) and we're praying she doesn't. She is getting bigger everyday and has been the easy one between the two of our kids recently. Here are those cute chubby cheeks.

2 and 20 months!

Things are going well in the Kempe house. What have we been up to? I went back to work 2 weeks ago (boo!). Ingrid started daycare last week. Shepherd moved up to a new class at school. And we are still trying to sell our house. Someone please buy our house!!! Whenever people see us out and about with both kids, especially if I'm alone they inevitably say "you've got your hands full!" To them I say, "yes I do!!" But, we are having fun (most of the time) and time is flying by!

The only pictures I have of them together are in the double stroller.
Shep isn't quite still or gentle enough yet for anything else.

Ingrid is doing great. She will be 2 months on March 12. She is getting more alert and has started smiling. She sleeps well at night and sometimes even sleeps through the night. (I am pinching myself still after going through Shepherd's sleep issues.) Maybe we have paid our dues?? There isn't much more to update on her, but we all love our Inga Mae.

Big Brother's penguin hat

Shepherd is 20 months now and seems so big! He (finally!) sleeps well at night. He loves his new baby sister, but sometimes he is not as gentle as he should be. He wakes up almost every morning with his finger over his mouth to say "shhh" because Ingrid is asleep. He is always trying to stick a paci in her mouth which is unfortunate because she isn't as big of a fan of the paci as he is. As far as talking, he still has a long way to go. He can say a lot of words, but he rarely does. The most notable thing is that his favorite word is "that." He can have an entire conversation with me and pretty much only grunt or say "that." I never knew it could mean so many things! We sure hope it's just a phase, but it has been a long phase already. He is definitely entering toddlerhood and is very opinionated. I read on a blog recently that for a toddler boy everything is always either the worst or the absolute worst. Ha! Sometimes this seems true of Shep. But overall he is a very sweet boy and we sure do love him.

I couldn't deny him some of my shamrock shake and he sure loved it!

Eating cheerios on the deck

Feeding himself yogurt. There's no other way and it is messy!

Ingrid Mae

Ingrid made her arrival on January 12, 2012 at 10:53 am. She weighed 7lb 3oz and was 20 1/4 in long.


We arrived at the hospital at 4:00 am for my induction on the 12th. Everything was going along fine for during the early part of the induction. I was having regular contractions every couple of minutes and the doctor had broken my water and I had an epidural. Ingrid's heart rate was dropping a little bit with my contractions so the nurse decided to check me to see if I had dilated more. When she checked me, she said that she felt fingers beside the head. She called another nurse in to double check, and she agreed. They continued with the pitocin and went to call my doctor who was at another hospital. She got there about an hour later and by that time she said the hand was sticking out past the head and it was unlikely that Ingrid would be able to pull it back in. She immediately said to stop the pitocin and within about 20 minutes I was in the OR for a C section.

I had been so excited that Ingrid wasn't breech any more and it didn't really even occur to me that I might have to get a c section. So we were pretty upset when they said that I would have to have one, but at this point there was nothing we could do. Having a C section was a really strange experience, and they had a difficult time getting Ingrid out, so it was pretty rough on me.
It's been 2 weeks now, and I'm finally feeling somewhat recovered, although I still have to take things pretty slowly.

Shepherd is doing great so far with Ingrid. I'm not sure what his level of comprehension is about who she is, but he has adjusted really well. I realized that I've done a bad job of getting any pictures of the 2 of them or of all of us, so I'll try to do better in the next few weeks.

Ingrid has been a great baby. She is fairly laid back except for some occasional evening fussiness. She is sleeping pretty well for a 2 week old and usually wakes up once or twice to feed. Life with two kids is definitely busy. I'm sure it will get easier as I'm more able to help out with Shepherd.

Here are a few pictures from the hospital.

One of her first pics.

Seems like yesterday, but here is Shep 18 months ago!

Family pic in the OR.

Going home. Wearing the same dress that I wore home from the hospital 26 years ago!

Also here are some pictures from Christmas. Shepherd got some great stuff and thoroughly enjoyed himself.

Any day now

Well I know I've been a little delinquent on the blog posting, but what can I say?? Life is busy! We have been working, chasing after a toddler, and getting ready for Ingrid.

My due date is January 15 (Sunday), but I am scheduled to be induced on Thursday the 12th if she hasn't made her arrival by then. I still am hoping she will! She was breech for a long time and we had a c-section scheduled, but God answered our prayers and she decided to turn right around 37 weeks!

I figured I should at least post one belly shot before she is here. You can also see a little bit of her sitting area-turned nursery in the background. I am pretty big these days, and there is no shortage of people who feel free to let me know that! (Sorry if the photos are sub-par-they are from my phone)





And a couple of Shep:



New bath toys!



Annual cousin pic from breakfast with Santa at school

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And her name is...

Enough fun and games. I'm pretty sure anyone reading this has probably already heard via phone, but maybe there are a few others out there who would like to know.

Baby girl's name is....
Ingrid Mae Kempe

We just like the name Ingrid and it also happens to be Swedish, so we can salute Tim's heritage a bit. Mae is after my dear roommate, Mae Mae, from Wheaton College.

We can't wait to meet her. Now she just needs a place to sleep. Anyone looking to buy a house??


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Clue #3

Well, we couldn't get a video of Shepherd telling you baby girl's name, but he is giving you a hint about her middle initial here:

We'll give a clue about her first initial too: It's a vowel...

Hope some of you have figured it out. We'll let you know soon!

Clue #2

Some people were not very happy with clue #1...

Clue #2: Her first name is of Scandinavian origin and means beautiful.

Here are some blurry pictures of the Shep. He wouldn't stay still. What a surprise!









More to come later...

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