And another baby makes 4!

On October 23rd we welcomed Ryan Michael, the newest Brzezinski addition into our family. 

Ryan Michael Brzezinski

The week before Ryan was born we decided to schedule an induction for the 23rd hoping he would come on his own.  Apparently I am just too good of a host because he did not want to come on his own. The Saturday before Ryan came we went to an apple orchard to have some fall fun before we would be homebound with an infant.  We went with Grandma Peg, Grandpa Gig, Aunt Beth, Uncle Brian, Aunt Stefanie, Kate, Megan, and Luke.  Jacob LOVED the tractor ride and eating the apples.  He was "double fisting" while we picked our apples.  It was a perfect fall day and I was surprised with the tractor ride and all the walking that there were still no signs of labor. 

Ben, Jacob, Grandma Peg, & Grandpa Gig on the Tractor

Jacob in the Orchard with his partners in crime, Kate & Megan

 The next day (Sunday), I started feeling some contractions after nap time.  They were coming about every 5 minutes so Ben and I left Jacob with Nana & Grandma and headed into the hospital, but we were sent home.  Apparently Ryan was not ready.

The False Alarm Sunday Night

So on the morning of the 23rd we headed into the hospital to start our induction.  My labor the 2nd time around was a lot easier!  (I guess that happens when your first baby is 10lbs 9oz.)  My sister came to visit, which helped pass the time.  At 7pm I was 10cm and started pushing, and at 7:40 Ryan was born!  Ben and I couldn't agree on a name.  We had narrowed it down to two choices and decided to wait until we saw our little boy to name him.  When they brought him over to us we both looked at him and both agreed he looked like a Ryan.  It was a nice moment and totally worth the wait to reveal the name.  Ryan was a whopping 11lbs 0oz and 21.5 inches!  Our doctor was a little surprised at how big Ryan ended up being.  Since Jacob had been so big, we were monitoring Ryan's size during the pregnancy.  I was measuring right on and at 38 week ultrasound they were guessing him to be about 7.5lbs.  Boy were they wrong!  Here are some pictures of Ryan at the hospital.

We were very fortunate that Ben was able to take 2 weeks off from work to help me with our two precious boys.  Boy was I thankful for Ben's help!  Jacob adjusted amazingly well to his new baby brother.  He loves to sit with me when I am nursing Ryan, and he says in the cutest voice "baby" every time he sees Ryan.  Jacob is always aware of where is brother is and loves to point out Ryan's fingers, belly button, and nose.  Whenever Ryan cries Jacob will let us know by saying "Oh No! Baby."  One of Jacob's favorite activities is coloring.  We did a lot of coloring and as you can tell in the picture Jacob takes his coloring very seriously. 

Daddy & his boys

The next great artist?

Jacob "supervising" Ryan & Mommy

While Ben was home we also celebrated Ryan's first Halloween.  Instead of carving pumpkins we let Jacob color his pumpkin instead.  He absolutely loved coloring it and even helped out Ben in decorating his pumpkin.  Ryan was a little pumpkin and Jacob was Yoda this year. His Yoda costume has been passed down from his cousins on the Brzezinski side.  Ben's older brother Zack's 3  kids have all worn the same Yoda costume for Halloween.  Jacob enjoyed trick or treating for a 22 month old.  He would ever so gently select one piece of candy (His favorite treat was a tootsie pop) and then in the most adorable voice say "kenk you" as he walked away.

Jacob coloring his pumpkin

Mommy's little Pumpkin

 

Yoda & Ariel enjoying their loot

Mommy and her boys

 Our newest little man is now 2 weeks old!  My how time has flown by.  Ben is back at work and I am adjusting to having the two boys on my own.  Ryan and I went to the doctor and he is doing great!  He weighs 11lbs 4.5oz and has grown almost an inch.  He is starting to be more alert and is quite strong, just like his brother was.  We feel truly blessed to have these two wonderful little boys and look forward to posting more about our little loves.

Ryan at 2 weeks old

Brotherly Love

Our Beautiful Wedding

Finally we are back and have recovered from the whirlwind that was our wedding. It is hard to believe that it is over. Our wedding was beautiful! The whole day could not have been more perfect. Our bridal party looked quite stunning, and we think one of the best looking bridal parties we've seen. The girls started the day off at my Mom's house in Grayslake. It was an interesting morning with an assembly line of hair and make-up. The morning just moved so fast and before I knew it we had to leave for the church. The ceremony was beautiful, and tons of our friends and family were able to attend the ceremony. Walking down the aisle was my favorite part! As soon as I made eye contact with Ben I couldn't take my eyes off him. Brian Davies, our brother-in-law (Beth's husband), gave a beautiful sermon. The reception was a blast! After all the planning that went into the big day, we were ready to finally celebrate with our friends and family! Below are just some pictures that people have sent me. You can view our professional wedding pictures online. The website is www.fredfox.com. Go to the login screen our username is: cokbbb and the password is: brzezinski. We are still working on a honeymoon post. Thank you again to all our friends and family who made our wedding so special.

New Wedding Post!

Sorry that we have not been able to post lately. We've been pretty busy with the school year finishing and the wedding quickly approaching....66 days and counting!

This past Sunday, May 17th, we had our bridal shower. It was awesome! Check out our wedding website to read all about it and see pictures!

Wedding Update

It has been a while since Ben and I posted. Sorry to our loyal blog followers, but this past month has been quite busy with Wedding plans! The big day is only 132 days away and before we know it July 25th will be here. This past month we found our florist, took our engagement pictures, registered (which was the coolest experience; Ben was a real trooper!), finalized menu and times for the big day, booked a hotel block, and many many more small details of our wedding. Check out our Wedding Website for more information. (there is also a link in our Link List)

The biggest task we accomplished was sending out our save-the-date magnets. Ben and I decided to cut some of our costs and make our own save-the-date. I never understood why wedding invitations cost so much, but now I understand. Making our save-the-dates was an all day project! You don't think it will take that long, but having to print about 150 magnets (and having to hand feed them through the printer because they are too thick) really does take more time than you think it will. Thankfully, Ben's mom and Megan were willing to help us out. They made a great team and had quite an assembly line going. We were really happy with how the save-the-dates turned out.

My parents also threw a small engagement party for us. It was a lot of fun to celebrate with some of our family and friends. We also celebrated Mikey's 25th birthday. Mike was very kind to share his special day with us. Below is a slideshow of the engagement party.

Our Engagement Party

#1 Engineering Teacher!

Ben is the Engineering Club Advisor at Niles West. This week Ben's students competed in the Rube Goldberg Competition. The kids had to design a machine that would unscrew a regular light bulb and screw in a LED light bulb. Ben and his students worked really hard and came up with an impressive concept. Then ended up taking 4th out of 12 teams in the competition. I am very proud of Ben. He really is an amazing teacher!

Click here for Video of the machine in action

Happy Birthday Mackenzie!

Happy 2nd Birthday Mackenzie! Uncle Ben & Aunt Katie love you.

Mackezie Helen Brzezinski turns 2 today and is already a vibrant character. She is just so much fun to be around! She loves to dance, and has the cutest little butt shake. Watch out Zack! For the most part Mackenzie has no fear and is quite the little dare devil. She is a tough cookie (those Brzezinski genes again!) and brings many smiles to her family. She is the life of the party when the family gets together.

I met Mackenzie in June of 2008. We first bonded over a few walks that first time, but over the months, and the many visits later, Mackenzie has become one of my nieces (on July 25th I will offically be her aunt!). It is so much fun spending time with and getting to know Mackenzie.

Ben absolutely adores Mackenzie. He loves to rough house with her, and puts up with a lot of attitude when Mac & I gang up on him. I remember when Ben first told me about Mackenzie. It was on our first date. We were sharing about our families when I asked him if he had any nieces or nephews. He immediately gushed about Mackenzie's cuteness and proudly pulled out a picture he had of Mackenzie in his wallet (of course I was waiting to show off my little niece's picture as well!). I was really touched at how much he loved Mackenzie. When I finally met Mackenzie in June, I understood why. She is such a lovable little girl!

Mackenzie sure has changed! Ben and I are looking forward to our visit with Mackenzie this weekend to celebrate her birthday. Be sure to check back for some more pictures when we return. Until then, please enjoy some video we have of Mackenzie.


Click here for VIDEO of Mackenzie in her boat

Click here for VIDEO of Mackenzie dancing

It's amazing we make it out of the house!

Lately Ben and I have been very forgetful. I swear it seems like we always manage to forget something when we go on a trip! Here's a little taste of what we've been like lately: when we were traveling to Michigan for Kate's birthday, we both forgot our cell phones! Then on our way back to Chicago, we forgot our camera in Michigan! So we don't have any of the cute pictures/videos we took at Kate's birthday party. We won't be getting our camera back until my mom comes back from her visit with Beth, Brian, and Kate next week.

So, here is a small post to satisfy our loyal followers (you know who you are and we appreciate your support ;) ). I was playing around with some old video we had (since our new stuff is in Michigan!), and I found some cute video of Kate when she was still learning to crawl. It was my first time editing, so enjoy!

Click here for VIDEO of Kate trying to crawl

Happy 1st Birthday Kate!

Happy Birthday Goddaughter! I love you!

One year ago today, Kate Elizabeth Davies' was born. I can't imagine our family without her! She is a wonderful little girl and brings many smiles to our faces. This year has been an exciting year for us all (especially Beth and Brian!).

Ben and I will be traveling to Michigan to celebrate Kate's birthday with her. We will be sure to post more later on this very special occasion. Check out my sister's blog for more adorable pictures and video. There is an adorable video of Kate walking. Again Happy Birthday Kate. Aunt Katie and Uncle Ben love you!

Rang in the New Year Brzezinski Style!

As we are writing this post Ben and I are finally back in Chicago (and back to work unfortunately). As you may have read, Ben and I traveled down to Brookville after our Bundalo Family Christmas in Michigan. We got to be there when Drake finally came home! We spent a lot of time with Zack, Jenny, Mackenzie, and Drake; which was wonderful! Mackenzie is the model big sister and is compeletly enamored with him. Anytime her mommy or daddy are holding Drake she wants to hold Drake too. Her parents and grandparents were very smart in giving Mackenzie her very own baby doll complete with mini stoller, pack-n-play, bouncy seat, play mat, and diaper bag. It was adorable to see her play with her baby and do everything Zack and Jenny would do for Drake with her own baby doll. One of the cutest things I saw Mackenzie do was "give" all of her toys to Drake. She would just hand over all her toys to her parents and say "Drake's". It reminds me of a story my mom tells about my sister Beth when my parents brought me home from the hospital. Beth filled my bassinet with her toys. Now one could argue that she may have had some alterior motives, but if you knew my sister you know that she did it out of sisterly love! (Right Beth! wink wink.) Ben's brother, Pat, and parents came down for New Years and we celebrated Christmas together. It was awesome to be together for New Years. We always have so much whenever we are with our families. 2009 will be an exciting year for Ben and I. We are really looking forward to our wedding. Only 199 days to go!

Below are some pictures and some video of our Christmas vacation. Be sure to check out the video of Ben changing Drake's diaper!

click here for Christmas Vacation Pictures

click here for VIDEO of Ben with Kate

click here for VIDEO of Ben changing Drake's diaper

A little taste of our first Christmas

Ben and me at church on Christmas Eve. (Brian gave a very hopeful and inspiring sermon!)

Ben and I are quite the travelers for our first Christmas together. We will be gone a total of 12 days. We started off in Michigan celebrating Christmas with my family at Beth and Brian's house. It was a wonderful way to spend the holidays. We received lots of thoughtful and practical presents. Tomorrow we are off to visit Zack and Jenny down in Brookville, IN. We will be there for the much anticipated baby Drake homecoming! We will also spend New Years and celebrate the Brzezinski Family Christmas while we are in Brookville. Ben and I were very happy to spend the holidays together, and are looking forward to our visit with Ben's family.

Get a load of these twinkies!

Here are a few pictures of our Michigan Christmas. Kate was absolutely adorable! We loved being here to celebrate Kate's first Christmas. She certainly was a good girl this year, and Santa must have noticed! Kate received a ride on train (we included a picture of her enjoying the ride. Check out my sister's blog to see video of her riding it!) AND the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse! Kate is fascinated with Mickey Mouse, and her favorite treat is when her parents let her watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. It was so funny to see her react and dance whenever she saw Mickey. She got super excited when she opened her Clubhouse. She played with it the entire morning. Ben and I could probably sing you the Hot Dog Song now if you would like!

Kate enjoying her train ride!

Keep your eyes posted for more pictures from our Christmas vacation! We forgot our cord for our camera so we hijacked some pictures my sister and Brian took. We have some cute footage and hope to add some pictures of baby Drake!

We hope all our friends and family enjoyed their Christmas with their own families. We feel very blessed to have all of you in our lives! We wish you all a Merry Christmas and a safe and Happy New Year!

Proud Aunt and Uncle!

Ben and I love both our nieces and our new nephew! We do have an update on baby Drake. On Monday, Drake was taken off the ventilator. YAY! This allowed Jenny and Zack to finally hold their son. Drake is still on antibiotics, and hopefully will be able to come home around the 28th, but he gets stronger everyday. We are continuing to pray for Drake's full recovery. Ben and I are so proud of Jenny and Zack. We are amazed at how strong they both are. Zack and Jenny are two loving parents. Mackenzie and Drake are very lucky to have them.

Ben and I are truly fortunate to have two older siblings that set such a great example of parenting for us. My sister and Brian do such a wonderful job with baby Kate. She is such a precious child and a joy to be around. Ben and I hope we can be as good as Beth, Brian, Zack, and Jenny are as parents! (when the time comes of course!)

Check out my sister's blog. It has adorable pictures of baby Kate. Trust me it will bring a smile to your face!

Below is a slideshow of pictures we have of Kate and Mackenzie. We only have a few of Drake, and they are from the hospital. Hopefully soon we'll have better pictures of Drake to show off!

Please Pray for Drake

Ben and I ask all our friends and family to please keep Drake, Zack, Jenny, and our family in your thoughts and prayers. Our new nephew Drake was born on Saturday, but unfortunately has pnuemonia and spinal meningitis. He is currently in the neonatal intensive care unit. Drake is in stable but critical condition. He is getting stronger each day, but is not out of the woods yet. He's a fighter (in true Brzezinski fashion), but could use the positive thoughts and prayers. Ben and I would truly appreciate it! We are going down to visit our family this weekend. Hopefully we'll have some pictures to post, but until then here is a picture of Drake, his mom (Jenny), and his big sister Mackenzie.

Unwelcomed Company

Tonight Ben was a real sweetheart and decided to cook me dinner. He made steaks outside on the grill for us. It was a wonderful meal. Little did we know that at some point while Ben was cooking dinner, a furry little "critter" decided to join us. Ben discovered that a squirrel had snuck into the condo and had hid under the bed. Now being the city kids that we are, we had NO idea on how to catch this thing! Of course we call Ben's brother Zak to help us with our animal control problem. We ended up blocking the perimeter of the bed with clothes, and proceeded to corral the squirrel into Critter's (the cat's) sky kennel. Below are some pictures of our furry friend! What an interesting night!

Here is our furry friend hiding under Ben's bed.

After we had successfully "shooed" him into the kennel.

He's a curious little guy!

Ben was proud of his catch! Good job Ben! You're my hero ;)

The date has been set! 7/25/09

So Ben and I have set a date for our wedding. July 25th, 2009 will be the date that we become Mr. and Mrs. Brzezinski. We both are very excited. We've got a lot done already considering we got engaged 11 days ago! We've got the hall (Elmcrest Banquets in Elmwood Park), the church (Our Lady of Hope), and a DJ. The next big thing we have to get out of the way is of course the dress! My sister is coming in from Michigan for Thanksgiving and our goal is to hopefully find a dress before she heads back. So far Ben has been a real trooper. The day after we got engaged he went with me to look at some different halls. It was a LONG day for both of us. We are looking forward to planning the different parts of our wedding. We will be posting more information as the day gets closer. We can't wait. 244 days to go!

We're engaged!

Last night was Ben's 27th birthday and I took him out to Fogo de Choa, a Brazillian steak house. We had a wonderful dinner with plates and plates of Ben's favorite-meat. We then headed to the Signature Lounge on the 96th floor of the John Hancock building for after dinner drinks. While we were there I asked Ben how he birthday was turning out, and he responded with the best he's ever had. He then turned to me and said, "Katie the best birthday present you could ever give me is your undying love." I told him he already had that. That is when he said, "Then I guess there couldn't be a better time to ask this..." he got down on one knee and asked "Will you marry me?" I of course said YES! It was the most romantic moment of both of our lives. The whole night was just beautiful. He was successful in pulling one over on me because I had no idea! We'll be sure to keep everyone updated on our wedding plans. We both are just so excited. WE'RE ENGAGED! YAY!

Our First Blog Post....Happy Halloween!

So this is our first try at blogging. Wish us luck! So this past weekend Ben and I threw a Halloween Party with my brother Mike and his girlfriend Stefanie. Ben and I put a lot of thought into our costumes and went back and forth about what we should be. We couldn't decide if we should be a couples costume or not. There was even talk of going as Hans Solo and Princess Leia (not in the gold bikini by the way), but Ben and I finally settled on going as G.I. Joe and G.I. Jill. I initially wanted to be G.I. Jane, but everyone thought I was gonna shave my head like Demi Moore so I changed it to G.I. Jill.

It was a lot of fun decorating and getting ready for the party. As you can see we even carved a pumpkin. When I say "we" I really mean Ben. Well anyway the party was a hit. We had quite a few of our friends show up, and they were all good sports and dressed up. It really turned out to be a fun night. Below is a link of pictures from the party (hopefully). Be sure to check them out!
HalloweenPictures