Long time, no blog!

And this is what the boys look like today!  Yep, Rylan is almost 4 months already........sorry!  I have no excuse for not updating the blog except for the fact that I have a busy toddler and a baby that struggled with colic.  Notice how I phrased it as "struggled", I'm very happy to report that Rylan has really turned the corner and his colic issues have almost disappeared.  Which makes for a very happy Mommy, Daddy, Rylan, and Bryson too.  Well, since its been so long since my last post I should start at the beginning.............

Rylan Robert Klocke was born July, 27th at 9:49am weighing 7lbs 7oz and 20inches long. Everyone was healthy and happy.  Big Brother Bryson came to meet Rylan in the hospital and greeted him with a kiss on the lips (so much for germs!).  The brothers exchanged gifts and Bryson was SO EXCITED with his little brother.  I really wasn't sure of how Bryson would react to Rylan, but he continues to amaze me everyday.  Just this morning he went into Rylan's room and greeted him with "hey Rylan buddy, good morning" then he gave him a high-five, he just LOVES his little bro.  Anyways, then came home from the hospital and enjoyed many days and nights of 2 hour stretches of sleep as many new parents do.  Rylan was eating great, sleeping well, and was very healthy, then week 6 hit.......

Everyone knows what colic is so I'm not going to bore you with the details of poor little Rylan's 30 minute crying/screaming spells.  But I will say that it is very hard for Mommy & Daddy to listen to their little mister cry and know that there is nothing we can do to help him, it seriously broke our hearts (and made us a little crazy at times too)!  However, when Rylan wasn't having a colic spell he is a very happy baby that is FULL of smiles.  It was quite amazing to me that immediately after he would finish crying, he would just look at me with a huge grin!  I just remember thinking "How do you forget about the last 30 minutes of crying and just smile so big??"  The truth is that I think he wanted us to forget about it too.  And with just one of his smiles my heart would melt.  So after a few extra doctor visits and 5 different formulas later, he is doing great!

As far as other updates, I'm back to work and its keeping me VERY busy.  Dan's work is also extremely busy so the weeks just seem to fly by.  I can't believe its almost Thanksgiving, which we will be making a road trip down to Carroll, IA then to Omaha to meet the boys' new cousin Hazel.  On a different note I can't believe that my little man is going to be 3 on December 3rd!!!!!!  I will make sure to post some pictures from Thanksgiving and Bryson's Birthday party next post (probably in the Spring, just kidding). 

So I will close this post with the Ryaln's birth story which I know some people love to hear about and others not so much.  So I will summarize and keep it brief (shouldn't be that hard considering my entire labor and delivery lasted 1 hour 9 minutes)

• 7:30am - induction appointment (already 5cm dilated & totally effaced) half way done! = Good
• Pitocin started because OB and I both agreed it would be great to have baby before lunch  = Good
• Contractions fast & PAINFUL - Epidural in = Good
• 10 minutes after epidural still feeling INTENSE pain and PRESSURE = Bad
• Informed by nurse that I was ready to push without epidural working = VERY Bad (insert Jana's freak-out here)
• 9:49am - Rylan Robert was born and the most crazy intense pain I have ever felt turned into complete love & joy = Good, Great, Miracle!

Recalling Rylan's birth reminds me of a conversation that I had with my friend Beth before he was born.  She was also due with her second child within weeks of me, and we were contemplating how we could possibly love anything just as much as our 1st child?  I read this the other day and thought it describes my heart perfectly............
 Rylan has proven that the greatness of our love is not divided among our children, but rather multiplied, indefinitely between them.

And this Thanksgiving we all have so much to be thankful for.

God Bless, Jana.

 These are just some pictures within weeks of Rylan's birth.......I will post some more recent ones soon :)

Ready!

What does a heat index of 113 in Minneapolis and a 9 month pregnant woman equal........ Jana thinking every 5 minutes "I'm so ready to have this baby!"  Yes, we have had record breaking heat here along with record humidity.  Even when I'm not pregnant I constantly complain and am crabby when its humid and hot, so you can imagine how much fun I have been lately (even Wylie has started to distance himself from me)!  But truly we are all SO EXCITED to meet this Little Mister and anxiously await his arrival very soon.  Bryson touches my belly and says "hi" to baby brother and when people ask him where his little brother is he will reply "in mommy's belly".  But truly I feel he as NO CLUE what is in store......sometimes the miracle of life is challenging for adults to understand, nonetheless a 2 1/2 year old.  But he knows what a baby is so I figure that's a good start, right?

As far as updates go, the most exciting is that Bryson is potty trained!!!!!  3 weeks ago we decided to try again one more time before the baby gets here and it just clicked for him.  He is doing an amazing job and hasn't had an accident in weeks :)  He even goes in the "big potty" when we are "out and about" running errands, so we are so excited for him.  Everyone keeps telling me that he will regress once Little Mister is born, so we will just have to wait and see.  But nevertheless, it is amazing to watch him grow over the last few weeks and become such a little boy.  His vocab and sentence forming has grown like crazy.  Just the other day on the way to school and our neighbors are getting a new roof.   From the back of the car he says "WOW, the roof must be broken.....the men are fixing it!"  I just sat silent for a second and responded "Yep, you are exactly right buddy!"  He is too funny and Dan and I are amazed by him everyday. 

Other than that, we are just running around getting some last minute preparations done around the house.  Dan did finish the back splash (with some help from Grandpa Freddie) and it looks amazing!  I'm so lucky he is so handy (and a perfectionist may I add), I will take some pictures and post them next time. 

Well, this will be my last post with pictures just of Bryson so enjoy them!  God Bless and hope everyone is having a great summer!

Big Boy!

Well its 2:00am, I'm 34 weeks pregnant and awake.......guess I'll update the blog!  We have had many adventures since my last post.  I'll start with the most exciting.....Bryson is now in his Big Boy Bed (as well as Big Boy Room)!  We made the transition a few weeks ago and he is doing awesome, he just LOVES his new room and bed!  Its so funny how kids can surprise you, I thought this was going to bed a really hard transition for him because he seemed to love his crib so much.  But just one day after we introduced him to his new room, he had no interest in the nursery and is sleeping great.  Wish the same could be said for our second adventure.......
1st plane ride!  We flew down to Omaha on Memorial Day Weekend to visit Uncle Ben & Aunt Lindsey.  Let me set the stage by explaining that we decided to fly "employee stand-by" (my Mom is retired from Northwest), on a Holiday weekend, with full flight loads for Bryson's 1st plane trip.......good parenting choice?.......NOPE.  I should also add that we carried on all our luggage, plus stroller and convertible car seat.  If I told the whole trip story it would take another hour and I do need to try and sleep, so I'll just sum it up.....
1.  Shoved (literally) on plane last minute with 3 seats left scattered (nice man moved)
2.  Take off = not good.  Bryson says "get off & all done", ends up in my arms gripping on for dear life
3.  Time in air = good. Thanks to Mickey on DVD
4.  Landing = Bad.  Crying whole way down and ends with saying "can we get out of here!"
5.  Flight home = Better.  Slept, Thank God.
Will the Klocke Family be traveling on a plane anytime soon.......NOPE.  However, once we got to Omaha we had a great weekend with Ben & Lindsey.  We went to the children's museum, Omaha zoo (which was HUGE), and did lots of outdoor playing!  It was great to see them and Bryson is excited to have a new cousin joining the family!  Ben & Lindsey are due at the end of November and we couldn't be more thrilled for them!
Another exciting announcement is that Dan passed his PE(Professional Engineer) Exam!  This exam is a very challenging all day test.  He studied SO HARD and we are so proud of him.  Another project Dan is doing right now is backsplash in our kitchen!  He is doing an amazing job and I'll make sure to post some pics when he is done.
Exciting announcement from me..........lets see, I'm getting bigger!  Actually, I feel really good during the day, sleeping at night is just becoming a challenge as you can tell.  But Little Mister is still moving a ton and tracking right on time.  I can't believe he will be here in 6 weeks, time flies!
I hope everyone is enjoying the summer so far.  Time to get some sleep (at least for 6 more weeks)!

Easter Pictures

Just thought I would post some pictures from Easter (a little bit early for my monthly post, miracle I know)!

Potty Training Triumphs & Troubles

So I think this picture pretty much sums up our potty training experience.........big boy underwear work better on Bryson's head (for now)!  I know Bryson isn't even 2 1/2 yet, but lately he had been talking about the potty chair and wanting to "go potty".  So I talked with his teachers at school and we figured why not give it a try since he was expressing interest.  We went directly to big boy underwear and for the first 3 days he was doing awesome!  Then all of the sudden wanted NOTHING to do with going to the potty chair (or even the bathroom).  So he would hold his potty for hours and dance like an indian around the house.  Then he got so uncomfortable holding it that he started to cry :(  I tried everything to get him to go (I even told him to go on the carpet!)  So then I stared to cry because I felt so bad for him and I remember thinking as we were both in tears, "I don't think this is how potty training is supposed to go".  So after Dan got home I went on a walk with Wylie and on the walk I got over my thoughts of me being a Bad Mommy and decided to put a HOLD on potty training for a while (maybe a LONG while).
When I dropped off Bryson at school the next day and told his teachers about the traumatic experiences (this happen more than once).  I must have been a little emotional because when I picked him up from school I had a Dove Chocolate bar and card waiting for me in his cubby.  I need to mention how much we LOVE Primrose and all the staff there.  They are so awesome and care for Bryson like he is their own (apparently parents too)! We feel so fortunate to have found such an amazing place for our little man.
So, to close the potty training session for now my advise would be.......Just because your child talks about the potty doesn't mean they are ready, and dancing around like an indian while crying is NOT a part of successful potty training :)
Other than that experience, we did get to go down to Mason City for an early Easter with Grandma Carol, Grandpa Klocke, Uncle Ben, and Aunt Lindsey (pictures below).  Bryson had a ton of fun coloring Easter eggs and going on a Easter egg hunt!  We also got the chance to Skype Uncle Josh and talked alot about how Josh was in Texas.  The next morning we asked Bryson "where is Uncle Josh?"  He thought about it for a second and replied "In the computer!"  It was adorable!
As far as "Little Mister" goes (that is what we are calling Baby #2), I am now 25 weeks and feeling great.  He is VERY active little guy.  July will be here before we know it, so we are getting Bryson ready to move into his Big Boy room complete with Big Boy bed.  Then I will start to get the nursery ready :)  We also have tried to explain to Bryson that he is going to have a "Little Brother" and that he is in Mommy's belly.  He usually just looks at us and starts singing his ABC's, so in other words he is REALLY into it!  Too funny!
I hope this post finds everyone well and Happy Easter!  He is RISEN indeed!

A "Final" Blog

So this is my 3rd and final attempt at having some type of website for our family!  I have already tried to start 2 other websites and failed at updating both, sad.  However I have many friends who use this site and update it once a month, so I will do my best at keeping everyone up to date (especially family & friends who live afar). 
So lets start off this Klocke Family Blog with Baby #2 news.................................

We are THRILLED to announce that Bryson is going to have another Brother to "play catch & shoot the puck around with" (as Dan so adequately put it).  Our Little Man #2 is healthy, very active, and tracking right toward his due date of July 29th.  I am going to be so lucky to have a house full of boys (including Wylie, who I guarantee will be the most work and require the most of my attention)!  Enjoy the updated pictures of Bryson.  The Lord has truly blessed us and we are so grateful!