Our life as a family of four

has been super fun and a little hectic.

We took Mackenzie to her first baseball game.

We went to the pool with some friends.

We played dress up. Chloe said she has to "go to the beach in style."

We got our first black eye. I hit Chloe with the shopping cart. Talk about mommy guilt...

This was a few days later...

We took a nap!

We went to backyard bible club. Chloe is the one running around and not sitting still with the other kids. In her defense, the club is designed for Kindergarden through 4th grade. She is a little young for it.

We try and play outside.

Mackenzie - 1 Month

Mackenzie,

It's July 11, 2013 and you are one month old today! It has been a very busy month. We've had lots of company, your first holiday (Fourth of July) and your first outing (a quick trip to Target).

We've also learned a lot about you. I was correct in my assessment of your personality even prior to your birth. You are so very laid back! You are going to be more like your Dad. (Mom and Chloe are more tightly wound). You rarely cry and you sleep a lot. The most difficulty you've given me so far is your disdain for burping. You hate and seem to fight against it so much that it's taken (a few times) three hours to get you back to sleep after a night feeding.

4 weeks 1 day old - 1 month

Weight - 11# 1oz. (93%)

Height - 22.5" (96%)

Head Cir. - 38.5 (96%)

You are a healthy girl. You've gained over 3 pounds and grown 2.5 inches in 4 weeks...that has to be painful. I can't believe the change in 3 weeks time.

one week old.

You sleep around 4 hour stretches at night. I'm getting up with you 2-3 times a night. I am looking forward to longer stretches. I think you may have made cooing noises a few times. Until they get more deliberate, it's hard to tell.  I can't wait for you to smile. You have the most adorable dimples...like Dad. When you smile they are much more noticeable.

You slept through your first bath. I'm not kidding. You didn't open your eyes or cry at all. I couldn't believe it! You seem to really enjoy bath time. You also enjoy tummy time. So much in fact, you fall asleep during it. I'm not sure how you will ever strengthen your neck by sleeping through your exercise! You do have a pretty strong neck already though and can hold your head up for a while before face planting into my chest.

We went to the doctor today for your 1 month check up. You received your second Hep B vaccine and you took it like a champ! You only cried for a split second. You are so chill! Your big sister is awfully worried about your boo-boo. Chloe received a doctor prescribed sticker for your pain and suffering.

We love you, Mackenzie!

The Oklahoma crew with Aunt Ellen (from D.C.) and Uncle Ben (from Alaska).

Aunt E spoiling Chloe.

Granny didn't want to put Mackenzie down. 

Chloe looks nervous about Uncle Ben holding baby Kenzie.
Don't worry Chloe. If he can handle jumping out of a plane, he's capable of holding a newborn.

Chloe has been such a big help. We haven't really seen much regression from her. She did color on the carpet the other day and she has been talking back and giving attitude. But, I'm 95% sure these are unrelated to the new baby. I think it's just her normal 3 year old independence asserting itself. The coloring on the carpet can be attributed to the fact that I can't watch her 100% of the time now and stop it before it happens. The one thing that seems to really upset C is when Mackenzie takes a bath. As far as Chloe is concerned, it's her bathtub. I'm hoping to start bathing them together, soon.

If Mackenzie cries, Chloe tells me to 'pick her up' or 'feed her.' If Mark is holding Mackenzie and she cries, Chloe is very concerned that Dad is the reason and tells him to 'stop' or 'leave my sister alone.' C loves showing Mackenzie her toys and talking to her.

Having two kids is certainly an adjustment. I think overall we are adjusting well. It helps that Mackenzie is such an easy baby and Chloe's maturity lets her be a tremendous help.  I do have a little mommy guilt now that all my time isn't devoted to C. But, I think it makes our 1 on 1 moments so much sweeter.

I love this face!

I love this face, too!

Similar facial expressions. Sisters for sure!

A New Addition

 

Mackenzie Jewel has made her appearance. She decided to arrive on her own 5 days before her due date. She took us by surprise to say the least.

June 11, 2013

5:51a.m.

7lbs. 9oz.

20"

 

Birth Story follows:

I started having contractions on Sunday night and we went to labor and delivery where they told me that "contractions that are 10 minutes apart aren't doing anything." They added that they DID think I would be back for the 'real deal' by the end of the week. So all day Monday I sat around having contractions that were between 8 and 15 minutes apart. Since they never became regular and they weren't getting any closer together, I decided that I wasn't going to the hospital because they would likely send me home.

Around 2:30a.m., my water broke. Mind you my contractions were still only 8-15 minutes apart. I woke up Mark and told him we needed to head to the hospital. I also added that we probably didn't need to hurry since my contractions were still so far apart. We woke Chloe up, grabbed our bags and headed to the hospital.

{Chloe was with us for a bit, until we decided to call Mark's dad to come get her. There was a point where I told Mark. "I love her, but you have to get her out of here." I couldn't focus on managing my pain (I didn't want to scare her) with Chloe in the room. Plus, Mark was having to focus on her and I needed his attention. Furthermore, a three year old has no business in a delivery room (IMO). We didn't really have a plan in place for this type of delivery because Chloe was induced so we weren't thinking in terms of a more urgent birth.}

They checked me in and got me hooked up to monitors at 3:00a.m. I immediately asked for my epidural. They have to give you one bag of iv fluids before you can get the epi and they also had to run blood work. So we waited...too long. By the time the anesthesiologist arrived, I was ready to have a baby. I told the nurse. The anesthesiologist continued to work his magic. But before the medicine could take effect, we had to call the doctor in the room. It was time. I had a drug free birth...that I DID NOT want. haha. It worked out. Mackenzie was in my arms by 5:51a.m.

The part that was the worst was having to wait for the little bit of epi to wear off. It didn't start taking effect until well after Mackenzie made her appearance, but I got enough 'juice' to make me rubber legged for a bit.

We left the hospital after one night...as soon as the 36 hour jaundice test was complete they released us. This experience was so much different that the one with Chloe. Her birth was hard on everyone.

Mackenzie is one week old today. She is doing fabulous. She sleeps a lot. I know that sounds dumb (what do you expect? newborns sleep), but Chloe NEVER slept. We joke that we were cheated out of a newborn with her because she was so alert from the beginning.

Chloe is in love with her new sister. She tells me all the time how cute Mackenzie is. She talks about her little feet and hands. She tells me to 'put her down.' Which is my cue to lay her on the floor so that Chloe can look at her.

 

Today is our first day home without help. I have Chloe and Mackenzie all to myself. I actually think it's going to be a great day!

Shorty, Chloe and Mackenzie

 



Mark, myself, Chloe and Mackenzie

Shorty, myself and Mackenzie

Josh, Claire and Mackenzie

Pop and Mackenzie

Don-Don and Mackenzie

Shorty and Mackenzie

Big sister, Chloe!

The Third Birthday Party

 

This year was Chloe's first real birthday party. Last year we went to Houston to do some fun family stuff and her first birthday was mostly family. This year we invited Chloe's friends and had an actual party. I won't say it went off without a hitch, but it was successful.

I'm glad we decided to have a party. I really didn't want throw one at first since she won't remember it and because it was only a few weeks before my due date. I knew I would be tired and wasn't sure I was up to the challenge of throwing a party. --Don't get me wrong...we still would have celebrated her birthday. It just would have been much more low-key) After Mark and I discussed it, we realized it was important for Chloe to have a special day to celebrate her since everything will seem to be (at least from her perspective) about the new baby soon.

 

We didn't really have a theme for the party. I made cupcakes inside of ice cream cones so that they looked like chocolate and vanilla ice cream. We used pink, purple and green balloons and streamers. Mark rented an inflatable bounce house for entertainment. We were going to set things up outside, but it was raining that morning. Change of plans. Everything was inside and thankfully the rain let up enough for us to set up the bounce house in the driveway.

We only had the party for two hours. It was a good amount of time for the under 3 crowd (and probably the parents, too). It was just enough time to play, open presents, eat cake and ice cream and then play a little more.

 

Chloe would have really been happy with only eating cake. After only opening about three presents, she was ready to move on to the next activity. Getting a bunch of presents all at once is overwhelming at her age. She can really only focus on one thing at a time. Of course, now that the party is over she has enjoyed playing with ALL her presents. She just needed some time to truly discover them all.

Our friend, Katie, had some goldfish crackers for her daughter. Chloe spotted them while opening her presents and had to keep taking goldfish breaks after that. It took a while to get through the present opening. ha

10 Days until my due Date

It's officially 10 days until my due date. Due dates are such an arbitrary thing. I suppose they pack a little more significance this day in age. Most everybody I know was induced or had a scheduled c-section pretty close to their doctor-determined due date. If we still let people go into labor on their own, then these dates would be even less important since babies, who have no concept of time, come when they are good and ready when left alone. I'm not taking a stance on this hot topic. I will say that I chose my doctor because I trust her and her judgement and believe that everyone should choose a doctor that they trust with their life.

I went back to see what I was thinking/feeling during my pregnancy with Chloe around this time...I found this post from 11 days before her due date. It's the top 5 things I was looking forward to post-pregnancy.

To summarize and compare, here are the top 5 from three years ago and my thoughts on it this time:

5. Sleep on my stomach - I still miss this, but the inability to sleep on my stomach hasn't bothered me as much this time. I think it's because we have a better mattress and after having a child you learn to sleep when and however you are able. You don't get to be picky about sleep when you're a mom. I also know that I won't be getting to do this right after I have Mackenzie. It was quite a while before I was able to return to stomach sleeping after having Chloe. Partly because your stomach takes a while to return to it's pre-pregnancy state and partly because milk production and stomach sleeping do not work well together in the beginning.

4. Do Yard Work - I've mowed a few times. I've planted a few plants, but our new yard doesn't need as much work as the previous home's.

3. Have a Beer - This is still on my list. It's just that the time of year I like to have babies is the best time of year for back porch sitting and beer sipping. I will be imbibing occasionally once the new addition is free and clear of my blood stream. haha

2. Move (meaning my body) - I seem to be having less trouble this time. I would like to be able to play on the floor with Chloe and get up without having to grunt or groan.

1. Go Running! - I actually ran for most of this pregnancy (including two 5k races...one at 7 months pregnant while pushing Chloe in a jogging stroller). However, I stopped a while back and switched to walking. I really am ready to start running again and am even thinking it might be time to do a half-marathon. I'm not sure that I want to do another full ever...we'll see. I think a 13.1 mile run might be a good goal. Now to find a double jogger.



A note to miss Mackenzie: 

Your parents and sister are getting impatient. Everybody is ready, but you. It's time to go. Let's do this. 

Things That Keep This Pregnant Lady Up at Night...

Sleep is a vain effort these days. Here are a list of things that keep me awake at night:

1. My tiny bladder which is being further compressed by a ~7 pound baby. (I usually have somewhere between 4-8 bathroom breaks a night...usually one an hour).
2. Braxton Hicks which lately are seeming more and more like the real deal.
3. Heartburn.
4. Mackenzie's acrobatics in between aforementioned Braxton Hicks.
5. The Cicadas in my backyard.
6. The tiny little frogs that chirp all night long.
7. My husband snoring...it's gotten worse in the last week. I slept on the couch Tuesday night.
8. The little, yappy dogs that live in the house behind ours and like to bark at our fence line. --Not gonna lie. I've had some pretty terrible thoughts on how to resolve this problem. I wouldn't actually follow through with any of them, but a girl can dream...if she could actually fall asleep over the barking.-- 

Things that will keep me up in the coming weeks:

1. Numbers 5 through 8 in the above list.
2. A sweet, little baby girl who will be adjusting to life outside my tummy. 
3. Possibly a big sister who can't sleep through her new sister adjusting. 

I'm so excited! I have about 18 days to go...

I'm going to go take a nap now. 

Happy Third Birthday, Chloe!

Chloe,

It's May 28, 2013 and you are three years old today! See how much you've changed from one year ago? You are no longer a toddler and are now a pre-schooler. (You don't go to pre-school yet.)

 

 

You have turned into such an entertainer. You sing all the time and have several songs memorized. You even try and sing along with my music when we go on walks with the jogging stroller. If we laugh at anything you do, you will try and repeat whatever it was to keep your dad and I laughing. You also love to get your 'electric guitar' and play for us while you dance. You prefer it if we dance along.

Some of your favorite things are: bubbles, Pepper, flowers (you like to pick dandelions), the next door neighbor boys (Luke and Davis) and riding your tricycle or scooter. You are pretty girly, but you keep your shins bruised from adventures.

 

You know your full name and will tell people, but sometimes you get confused. Occasionally you say, "My name is two." You never confuse where you live. If I ask where you live, you always tell me which city. (If you can't tell, we are working on safety information in case you ever get lost.) You have never met a stranger and are so friendly. While I think that is one of your greatest strengths thus far, it's also potentially problematic at this age. Sometimes, we have to keep a pretty close eye one you.

 

We are working on letters now. You know all the letters and their sounds, so we have moved onto writing them. You don't really have the fine motor skills required to write well yet. But, you can write a few letters (sometimes they are backwards). C, A, X, T, U and O...random letters, I know.

 

You are just now starting to really test your own will-power. There was no doubt since the day you were born that you had a stubborn streak. For the most part, you listen as well as any child your age. Recently though, we've been hearing the word 'no' from you a lot! It's hard not to laugh because the face you make when you tell us 'no' is hilarious. (You scrunch up your nose and furrow your brow.) I think our saving grace for this "miss independent' stage that you are embarking upon will be the fact that you 'just want to make us happy.' You ask us 'Are you mad?" when you do something wrong. If we say 'yes' you get pretty upset.

 

 

We are really enjoying watching you turn into your own person. There are so many things about you that we've learned. In retrospect, many of your qualities were evident early on...I think most of your little personality is the way you were born. We love you and the laughter that you brought into our lives.

You have doctor appointment on Thursday so we will get a weight and height then...