Celebrating Grace's First

This past Sunday we got together with some family and friends to celebrate Grace's first birthday. The weather held off long enough so that we could spend some time in the pool and enjoy the sun. Grace was able to take her first swim and she loved the water. That was no surprise to anyone who has given her a bath. Jamey showed off her creative side by decorating Grace's first cake. It was topped off by one of the cookies we saved from Jamey's baby shower last spring. Don't worry, we froze it and to be honest it was only for show. Grace loved digging into it.

IT'S A BOY! Introducing Mark Allen Koralewski...

Congratulations Brian, Mary & Sophia on the new addition to your (our) family!

I'm filling in for Steve here, as he is away on business in Seattle. I'm sure that he'll have more to contribute upon his return! But, for those of you who haven't had the pleasure of meeting this lil' guy yet - I thought I'd give ya a "sneak peek"! As you can see from the pic, he was very alert and doing great at less than an hour old. I was amazed at how active and strong he already is!

So... Mary (and Bri) left for the hospital last night around 10:45pm, hoping that it was the "real deal". After several long nights of contractions and no sleep, we were saying a prayer that she had progressed enough that she'd get admitted! Yea... an hour later she called to say that this was it - they were having a baby!

Unfortunately, after the epidural, Mary's labor stalled through the night and little progress was made. Still, with blood pressure cuffs going up and down, IV's beeping, nurses coming and going, the anxiety of waiting, and pitocin induced contractions - sleep was not on the menu! By mid-morning they broke her water and things picked up from there. By 11:45 we got the call that she was approaching the final stages, and we should head up. Almost an hour later Mary and Brian got to finally hear, "It's a BOY"!

I was on my way to the hospital when "Mak" made his entrance; so, I got to hear the news from proud big sister Sophia, "Aunt Jamey, I have a baby Mak"! Minutes later I was falling in love with another Koralewski baby... in the same exact room where I delivered Gracie exactly one year and one day ago...CRAZY!

Brian & Mary are really excited for all of you to meet little Mark! She'll be at Toledo Hospital until Wednesday.

I Can't Believe She's One!

Wow! A year can fly by so fast. Even though it went by quickly, it is hard to imagine our family without Grace. She has definitely become a favorite with all her siblings. Each one of them enjoy their own time with their little sister. She has developed quite the personality and loves to flirt. She has a smile to die for. She is picking up new words everyday, and is bound to start walking sooner than we would like. We still have a lot of work to do to baby proof our home. It has been awhile since we've had to worry about that.

Happy Birthday Surprise...

This afternoon we went to a birthday party that featured a traveling reptile zoo. Hannah loved it; but, Grace did not share her feelings in the beginning. After a few moments she warmed up to the python. The photo on the right was taken just a second before she grabbed it's neck and tried to put it's head in her mouth. We were able to release her grip before she decapitated the poor beast.

Happy 25th Anniversary

Congratulation to Kent and Terri Seagert who are celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary today. This past Sunday we celebrated the occasion with some of the family at their house in Maumee. Below is a photo of the all the of us with Kent's parents and his sister's family. This was one of the rare occasions that we are all together at once since we have all started our own famlies.

Happy Father's Day

Today is a day to honor all the dads, grandpas and great-grandpas in our lives. Their helping hands, dedication, support, and love has helped shape each and everyone of us. We wish you all good heath, happiness and lots of laughter this year.

Thanks for all you do for us!

"Presenting Mr. 7 year old!",

yelled Caleb as he ran into our room this morning. He was so proud to be a year older. On his birthday he had two of his friends from church come over to stay the night. After playing for a few hours, the boys, Hannah, Emma and I headed to the Perrysburg Pool for a few hours. We then went and rented some movies. They were all wound up by the time they tried to settle down to watch Inspector Gadget. The next morning I treated them to chocolate chip pancakes topped with syrup and whipped cream. Sunday evening we had some of the family over for cake and ice cream. How do you like my attempt a his Transformer Cake? Caleb did not have too many requests for presents, most were video games. We managed to only allow him to get one. Some off his favorites were his "real" rocket, a few remote controlled creatures, Legos and Poke'mon toys. After the wind died down we headed to the school to launch his new toy. Mema and Ampa joined us. To our surprise, the rocket seem to reach approximately 600ft. We were able shoot it off twice before the bugs began to get the best of it. The kids all seemed to like the gift a lot more after they saw what it could do. We then spent the rest of the night playing his new, "Lego Indiana Jones" PS2 game. It was a lot of fun and it really follows the original movies.

Earlier in the week we "attempted" to make some brownies for Caleb to take on the last day of school for his birthday celebration. Jamey was working late on her computer and just as I was going to bed realized that we never made the treats for his class. I quickly mixed up the brownies and put them in the oven. I set the timer for 45 mins. Jamey also set the alarm on the cell phone, just in case she dozed off on the couch and did not hear the timer from the kitchen. When I woke up I could smell a slight hint of burnt brownies. Thinking that Jamey got them out a little late I finished getting ready for work. When I got down stairs I found Jamey asleep on the couch where I left her. I also noticed the oven was still on.

I think we discovered a new way to make coal!

Nordhaus Baby Update

I know that several of you have been wondering how the Nordhaus babies are doing. Below is an email that was sent to us from Jamey's cousin Chris pertaining to their progress. Please continue to keep the family in your prayers.

Hello Friends and Family,

I know everyone has been praying for all of us.......and we really appreciate it.....thank you!

I also know, that everyone has been eager to hear how Ava and Leah are doing as well......
So I'm going to try my best to give you an overall update on how they are doing........

1st of all.....they are both doing really well!!! We've had a couple of good days in a row!!
And it couldn't of came at a better time..........for all of us!!
They're a month old already.......which we can't believe....time has flown by for us!!

Ava-she has been on breast milk for about 1-2 weeks now........and she's doing really well with it.
She's up to 14 ml every 3 hrs. (they feed her through a feeding tube through her nose), they also are adding calories to her meals......which is suppose to help her "beef up" haha
The doctors are hearing a murmur (heart-PDA) still.....
So they've put her on steroids for now....to try to help her lungs and buy her some time so if they decide to give her surgery in a week or so she will be stronger and hopefully not have as many problems as Leah did after her surgery last week (for the same thing).

The doctors have chosen this route because Leah had the surgery last Thurs. and she really had a hard time recovering from it.....so by waiting a week or so longer.....they're hoping that if it doesn't close up on its own, she will at least be a little bit bigger and will hopefully do better than her sister did!

Ava is about 2 pounds and 4 ounces now!!! And is definitely a daddy's' girl already!!!
Kevin seems to have "the touch" with her.......
He got to hold her yesterday (2nd time)and she actually smiled at him!!! It was pretty adorable.....
And he's about the only one she tolerates changing her diaper without having the alarms go off!
Which is what she does for me......every time!!! haha

Leah-is a little fighter .....I'll tell ya........It's amazing to see how much she's been through so far but, she keeps fighting through all of it.!!! She's one tough cookie........
She weighs just about 2 pounds now........and trust me.....you can't tell!!!
She had surgery last Thurs. on her heart (closing her PDA) and while she did well in surgery she had a pretty hard time recovering afterwards.......
Which we expected because of how small she is and that her heart wasn't used to working as hard.......
But, thank God she is on the mend now!!!
She has just started taking breast milk again since the surgery.......she is only on 1 ml every 3 hrs. for now.....until they decide that everything is in working order and then they will slowly increase her amount too..... Which so far she is doing okay with it.......

The best news about Little Leah is she is the 1st baby at Toledo Hospital to be on this new ventilator!!! And she is doing amazing on it!!!
We are really blessed .......Not only did they "choose" Leah to be on it but, she is really responding well with it!! The docs say this technology is "State of the Art".........
Toledo Hospital is only the 4th hospital in the country to have this technology......
And they just got it this week........and Leah has been on it for about 2-3 days already.......
There is only 1 though.......or they would of put Ava on it too......they said!
We really feel honored and blessed ......
Thanks for all your prayers........!! They are definitely working!!!

That's about it.........we still have many challenges ahead of us.......
But, we're heading in the right direction..!!! This was a good way to end our week!!!

Thanks for everything......Kevin and I really appreciate all your prayers and we know they will be home before we know it!!!

love, chris