The Kohlmans

Lincoln is so in love with his little brother! We had hoped that Lincoln wouldn't be too upset about the changes in his life, and so far he is doing really well, with only a little bit of a tough adjustment the first day or two we've been home. He came to visit us in the hospital three or four times, and had asked to come again the day we got to come home. One morning when he was leaving, he said "I'll see you later tonight, Lawrence!" (Unfortunately he didn't get to come back that evening, but it was so sweet!) Lincoln loves to give Lawrence kisses, and often sits and watches him to narrate what's happening - "He yawned! He went like this (then copies the baby's gesture)." Lincoln loves to call Lawrence "little brother" and "baby brother," and he is almost always in the baby's room when Lawrence is nursing, just hanging out, talking to me, or observing Lawrence. Lincoln frequently tells us and others ...

Throughout this pregnancy, I said over and over again that I wanted to attempt a VBAC. My doctor was completely supportive and talked with me many times about what that would look like and what would have to happen in order for us to do that. By my 39 week appointment, I was not making any progress, so we scheduled a repeat c-section for March 30th, two days after my due date. Apparently that was just what we needed. On the 27th, I started to have contractions around 9:30 p.m. They started off about 10 minutes apart, but before an hour had passed, they were 6 minutes. We called my parents and waited for my dad. When he got there, my contractions were alternating 3 minutes, then 6 minutes. By the time we got to the hospital, they were 2-3 minutes apart. I know most people say that Pitocin contractions are the worst, but I am positive these were much, much more painful than any I  had with Lincoln. Once we were at the hospital, the nurses got everything checked out. The residen...

We had lots of visitors come to meet Lawrence!

We were in the hospital for over four days, which was more than long enough for all of us! We brought Lawrence home on Friday, March 31. He was not too happy to be dressed for the first time, but he calmed down, and we will work on his feelings toward Bethel onesies.

Lawrence Allen Kohlman March 28, 2017 1:16 a.m. 8 lbs, 9 oz, 21 inches long

We had a low-key day on Lincoln's birthday. He stayed home from preschool with mommy. Uncle Daniel and Aunt Megan were in town, so they came over for a bit to play, then we went to Freddy's for lunch. That evening we had pasta and leftover cupcakes (the treats he took to school on Tuesday) and opened presents from mommy and daddy (clothes and books). He loves the book Stand Tall, Molly Lou Melon, so that was one of the books he got! I still can't believe he's four and how grown-up he is!

Dear Lincoln, Four years ago we got to meet you for the first time. We have loved watching you grow and learn since that day. At four years old, you are incredibly inquisitive. You ask questions all the time, wanting to make connections and know "why" things are the way they are. You love to learn, and one of your favorites right now is watching Planet Earth with daddy; you also love to read nonfiction, especially about dinosaurs. Daddy has been reading the Magic Treehouse series to you, as well as a few other chapter books. You love reading and often ask to be read to. Sometimes you will work with us on sounding out words, but not often. Another favorite activity of yours (particularly when riding in the car) is to list letters and ask what word they spell. You enjoy school, but you don't always want to talk about what you learn when we ask. You usually volunteer lots of information on your own time. Recently you've started to enjoy drawing pictures ...