1st Day of Kindergarten

Wow!  It is so hard to believe but Victoria started her first day of Kindergarten on Wednesday, September 3rd.  She is going to St. Pius X school which is part of the Catholic School System in Appleton.  We drop her off at 8:15am and pick her up at 3:15pm.  It makes for a long day for her but so far she seems to be doing well.  They have rest time after lunch which helps.  Gabe went in to work late on Victoria’s first day so we could both drop her off.  Victoria is such the independent one.  She just jumped out of the car and didn’t even look back.  Gabe and I drove off slowly watching her gather with all the other kids.  I think we were expecting something much more dramatic.  I would much rather have it that way than have her clinging on to my leg crying and screaming.  I guess she is having fun.  Although she can be quite talkative with her imaginary friends, she doesn’t share much with Gabe and I about her day.  She tells us they do “stuff”.  As long as she is happy, we are happy.  The rest of us are adjusting to Victoria being gone during the day.  I think that Ellie likes the additional time spent with mom and she is quite happy to be able to play without having to share toys or be told what to do by her big sister.  

Ellie’s Got Potty Power

It’s official….Ellie is potty trained. She has been accident free for two weeks now so we figure it is safe to say that she is officially out of diapers. It was a rough couple of weeks in the beginning but all worth it. Since she seemed ready about the time that Rhys was due, we decided to try the training pants method. As with Victoria, that just didn’t work. She had no desire to use the potty when the pull-up held everything. When Rhys was about two weeks old we decided to go back to our previous method since it worked for Victoria. We took away the pull-ups and Ellie wore underwear except for naps and bedtime. We had lots of accidents which was no fun for me since I was trying to take care of a newborn but by the second week we had fewer accidents and then finally the third and fourth week no accidents. Yeah!!! Early on in the process we got the Potty Power video from the library. It was so cute to see Victoria watching the video with Ellie. She remembered most of the songs. One of their favorites is “No More Diapers for Me”. Ellie has been singing that song around the house. She loves to tell everyone that she pees and poops on the toilet because she has potty power. I took a picture of her in her infamous potty power pose. Congrats Ellie!!!!

Rhys 1 Month Old

Seriously time does fly!  I can’t believe that Rhys is one month old already.  He is growing so fast.  At 2 weeks he was already 10lbs. 4 oz. so I can’t imagine what he weighs now.  I know that his 0-3 month stuff is getting small and that goes up to 12lbs.  It took both girls 4 months to hit 12 lbs.  He does like to eat a lot so that might explain some things.  Rhys is still sleeping well.  He has had a cold for the past few days so that doesn’t help.  He is starting to be awake a little more during the day which is fun and tiring all at the same time.  If he is awake, he wants to be carried around a lot so that makes life a bit more difficult but oh well.  I shot a couple pictures of him on his big day.  He is sporting his baby acne and receding hair line.   Enjoy!!!

Vacation Bible School

We had Vacation Bible School (VBS) at church this week. I was the director along with another lady from church. It was a crazy week but everything went well. We were there every day from about 8:30am until 12:30 or 1pm. The theme was Rainforest Adventure so the kids got to learn about the rainforest and different animals there along with learning some stories from the Bible. Victoria was a tree frog and Ellie was a toucan. It was so cute to see the Ellie’s group (4 2 & 3 year old girls) going from snack time to lesson. After VBS on Friday, Victoria went home with a girl from church, Corrine. They have been planning a play-date sleepover for about a month and the mom’s finally got together and worked out the details. Victoria is spending all weekend with them. On Saturday they are taking Victoria to the NEW Zoo and to Bay Beach, a little amusement park in Green Bay. We will pick up Victoria at church on Sunday. This is hard on mom and dad to let her go for so long. It was so weird that she wasn’t at the table last night or waking us up this morning. Ellie keeps looking for “her toria”. I am sure that Victoria is having a great time but we definitely miss her and are ready for her to come home.

At Home With Rhys

Gabe has been yelling at me to write something…I guess that is the point of the blog. Things have been hectic as we adjust to having a little baby around. Even though it has only been 2 1/2 years since we had a baby, I have completely forgotten about all that goes along with that like no sleep and eating every 2 hours. Rhys has been a great baby so far. He goes back to sleep after he eats during the night and on a few occassions has even slept for 5 hours straight. The girls are loving having him home but are anxious for him to be more fun. I don’t think Ellie realized he was just going to eat, sleep and poop. This past week was the first week that we haven’t had anyone visiting since we came home from the hospital. My dad arrived the day after we came home and stayed for 1 week. It was so awesome to have him here. He spent a lot of time chasing the girls around. Victoria loved having her Papa here. He taught her how to ride her bike and took her to the park and swimming lessons. She was desperate to get all the way across the monkey bars before he left and on his last night here in Appleton, she finally made it all the way. After my dad left, Gabe’s brother, Jake arrived with his wife, Oma and their son, Liam. The girls followed Auntie Oma around everywhere copying everything she did. They loved hanging out with their cousin. Now we are trying to adjust to some sort of normalcy. I am just realizing that normal is a little different than I hoped. I am finding it hard to get things done around the house but I know it is more important to sit and enjoy my children!

Some nice pictures of the big sisters

Here are some pictures of the girls that were taken before the baby arrived. Dad’s little girls are getting big.

Rhys Joseph Maentz

Baby Maentz #3 has a name - Rhys Joseph Maentz.

Rhys (pronounced like Reese or Reece) is of Welsh origin which means - “inspired by God” or “breathed by God”, and he truly is a gift to our family. Joseph was Marion’s grandfather’s name and Gabe’s grandfather’s middle name.

Thank you all who have called, visited, emailed, offered suggestions for names and/or left comments on the website. Although we have not been able to respond to all of you we do want you to know that you are special to us and your thoughts and little notes are so much fun to read as we share this good news together. Thank you.

Here are some more pictures of the little guy and a couple of videos as well. I hope you enjoy them.

Rhys’ first bath

Rhys, Victoria, and Ellie

Being a Sister

Big Sisters

Baby Maentz #3: The Eagle has Landed

I am very happy to announce that we are the proud parents of a healthy baby boy. Baby Maentz was born today at 6:59 PM Central Time. He weighs 8 lb 11 oz, and is 19 1/2 inches long. Marion is doing very well, and had a relatively quick delivery since my last update below. The baby is still nameless, but we are working on that.

What an awesome day, we truly are blessed. It was also great to share the news with so many family and friends as I made the round of calls tonight. I couldn’t talk with everyone but I want to let you all know how much Marion and I appreciate all of your thoughts, prayers, and encouragement during this whole thing. We would also like to share with you some of baby’s first pictures.

Baby Maentz #3: Movin’ Along

We are now about 10 1/2 hours into labor and are movin’ along. Marion is doing great. About 90 minutes ago she received an epidural, which really has helped ease some of the pain of the contractions. Her water also broke and she is now about 5 cm dilated and 90% effaced. This baby might come today after all….yeah.

I got to talk to some family and friends and give everyone an update. I thought I would share some funny things that Marion has said over the course of the day (with her permission of course) which is just a testament to how well she is approaching this whole thing.

“Hey Gabe, check out my IV stand now.”
- Marion, after yet another bag of something was added to her IV stand.

“At least I wasn’t imagining things.”
-Marion, after the nurse confirmed that yes her IV was leaking on her hand.

“That thing should make a happy sound when there is a good reading instead of the sound that a video game makes when you lose your last life.”
-Marion, after receiving her epidural and having the blood pressure machine “beep” after each reading.

“I think I peed myself.”
-Marion, after her water broke.

Baby Maentz #3: 6 hours later, and still progressing

Marion is such a trooper. The contractions are getting more intense and more frequent as she is now on potossion potocin. We have done a little more walking around the hospital but she is feeling most comfortable in bed - although comfortable really is not the right word. Despite the pain and discomfort, she keeps a smile on her face, and continuously reminds me that she would just like to have this baby out. Right now she is getting a little rest in between contractions and overall seems to be doing very well. I really don’t feel as if I am much help at this point, but I just try to provide humor when appropriate (ok, even sometimes when it is not appropriate) and be there for her if she needs me. I just hope for Marion’s sake that this doesn’t turn into a marathon labor - but she has such a great attitude and the view out of our window shows a beautiful day - which I am sure helps a little.