The Kohlmans

Brad, 1985 Lincoln, 2013 Megan, 1986 Lincoln, 2013 Many people insist Lincoln is a "mini-me" of Brad. He doesn't not look like me, though. I guess he just looks like Lincoln.

One of my favorite times growing up was wheat harvest. My dad would leave the house early (even though he wasn't usually in the fields until mid-morning because of moisture) and come home late. Every night, my mom or Grandma Donna would take supper to the field - main dish, fruit, veggies, dessert, lemonade. Almost every night, we four kids would go out, too. We'd eat our picnic supper, then play in the grain truck, ride along with Grandpa to the elevator, and ride in the combine. Our cousins came out one evening every year to join us. Some of them still go. Things have changed over the years. The combine is newer and the grain truck is bigger. Grandma isn't here anymore to take supper out. Grandpa doesn't get around quite well enough to drive truck now (though he still gets around quite well for his 87 years). Uncle Chuck comes from Minnesota every year to help, and Daniel drives, too. Harvest still happens. I loved sharing this experience with Brad when we wer...

Lincoln's room is my favorite in the house. Before he came along, it was just a boring brown box with a sewing machine and a twin bed. The only reason it even got painted was because I had lots leftover from the living area. We chose this room for Lincoln's because we knew it would be easier to move the sewing room than to move the office. So without further ado... Lincoln's room We chose the colors before we knew we were having a boy. I wanted something pretty much gender-neutral so it can be used for any future babies as well. The wall color is the most true gray we could find, and that took a while (we were trying to paint our master gray and ended up with more blue). Barb painted for us. My mom and I made the curtains and the crib skirt. She made the quilt. Brad sanded and painted the dresser and replaced the knobs; it was mine when I was little and my dad's and my great-grandma's.  The cross stitch baby shoes were made by one of Br...

Lincoln, You are three months old! When I think about how much you've grown, I can't believe it's all happened in just 13 short weeks. You love bath time. One day you were fussy all afternoon, so I decided to leave you in the tub as long as you were at least content. You lasted 30 minutes before I finally decided that the water was cold enough that I should take you out! You kick your rubber ducky and splash, splash, splash! We have to mop up the floor afterwards. You're still taking baths in your baby tub over the sink, but it won't be too much longer before you've outgrown that. Your self-imposed bedtime is still 8:00, as long as we're home. If we're out and about, you still have to have your bedtime routine of clean diaper, nursing, and swaddle whenever we get home. Typically, you sleep until 6:00 a.m. During the day, you will be awake for about an hour to an hour and a half at a time, then you fuss for a nap. You get swaddled, rocked, a...

This is just kind of a random home-related post. On Sunday, Brad came into the study with a broom and a bucket. He said, "I need your help. And we might have to move." Turns out, there was a tiny garter snake in the basement. I think I would have even picked it up to take it out, but Brad had just sprayed it with bug killer. I swept it into the bucket and released it outside. Oh, the joys of adulthood. We moved into our house over four years ago. Since then we've been slowly working on what seems like everything in it. We've painted every wall (some twice), installed new flooring almost everywhere, worked outside, replaced appliances, and fixed an assortment of other problems. The other day, the guys from Sears clean out our dryer vent (it got bad, really bad... they were here a loooong time). Just a couple months ago, we installed a new microwave/vent hood. It doesn't seem like a big deal, but the old, cream-colored one had the vents on the front. It go...

Lincoln is so lucky to live close to most of his family. He gets to see grandparents, some aunts and uncles, and even great-grandparents regularly. We also make sure to tell him all about the aunts and uncles he doesn't get to see very often. We need to be better about having some Google hangouts with them!

I'm sure I'll post about all these things in just 12 days when it's time for Lincoln's 3 month update, but here are a few things he's been up to lately! He's getting quite good at sitting (and standing, a little) with support. Obviously he can't balance on his own yet, but he holds his head up well and likes to be upright. Part of his increase in strength is definitely due to the fact that I moved tummy time to right after he nurses. He's much happier, works harder, and lasts longer than if I do it closer to nap time (duh, Megan?!).  Lincoln has also started to tip and push toward one side when on his tummy, like he's going to roll over. Maybe soon!  This one's my new favorite picture. Since he was born, I'm much more comfortable with being the subject of pictures - as long as he's right there with me!

5 years of marriage 4 years in our first home 3 wedding rings (Brad's the one who doubled up, not me!) 2 (and a half) months with our amazing baby boy 1 beautiful life together {random and obviously not inclusive list of things}

Jamie wrote today about brokenness and how important it is to share ours . Here is my story. Lincoln spent a week of his life in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. I suppose it's time for me to start to process that time, rather than allow emotion to overwhelm me whenever I think of it or whenever something is not absolutely perfect or whenever there's a possibility that something could be wrong. I think that most people in my life believe what I force my words and actions (or lack thereof) to convey, that I've moved on, that I'm able to remember those days without moments of fear of something happening again and without my emotions overwhelming me, that I can just be thankful that all is well now. (Truly, I am thankful that all is well. It's just that my emotions aren't quite that simple right now.) But, honestly, I don't know when I will get to that place. This is part of my brokenness. In many ways, I know we have been so fortunate. Saying we're ...

My wish for you is that this life becomes all that you want it to - your dreams stay big, your worries stay small, you never need to carry more than you can hold. And while you're out there getting where you're getting to, I hope you know somebody loves you and wants the same things, too. Yeah this is my wish. -Rascal Flatts Lincoln, I think often of my hopes and dreams and prayers for you. I truly do hope your dreams stay big and your worries stay small. Life would be wonderful if worry never took over. But at the same time, I want you to know that sometimes dreams don't come true and worries do take over. I don't want to sound pessimistic or cynical, but I also don't want you to have an unrealistic, fairy tale picture of what life may be. This, though, doesn't mean that you should temper your dreams. It doesn't mean that you should only set out to do the things you know with certainty that you can accomplish. Sometimes the crazy dreams, the ones tha...

This morning in church we had Lincoln's baby dedication. "Here’s the standard Mennonite understanding of child dedication: it is an act by which parents thank God for the life entrusted to them, offer their child back to God, and ask for God’s blessing on their life together." ( Thank you, Joanna Harader. ) (I really was happy. I promise.) Brad and I have discussed many times the fact that I am not a "happy crier," obviously meaning I don't shed tears on happy occasions. Today was a happy day. I have thought quite a bit lately about this day. Since day one, Lincoln has been a blessing to us (and by day one I mean the day we knew he was on his way), a gift from God, as his middle name declares.   But, as parents learn, one has to hold their children's lives loosely, to trust them to God. This became so real to us when we held our very sick baby in our arms during his stay in the NICU . Though Lincoln is all better, I am still proc...