So this blog has been used for several different things. I've written to share joys, confusions, and fears. I've asked for thoughts and opinions from experienced and inexperienced parents alike. I've documented my daughters first months here. Today, however, this space will serve another purpose.
Today is favorite-outfit-that-she-is-about-to-grow-out-of day!
On the whole, I am not very schedule-oriented. (clearly I am in love with the hyphen today) But lately KK and I have fallen into a morning routine, of sorts. I get up before her and make myself some breakfast: either Kashi mixed berry cereal or an egg and cheese bagel. Then she gets up and we eat. Shortly thereafter Kynzie plays on her activity gym and I do the breakfast dishes and put on daytime clothes. Then it's one of my favorite times of the day! Picking out what she will wear that day! Hooray! We go into her room and sit on the floor and browse through her dresser. It's really pretty fabulous. The other day it became a little sad when I had to take out all of the newborn clothes that she is growing out of to make room for the 3 to 6 months stuff I have in the closet. By the way, this was more than a little depressing. I cried. She's just getting so big already! She'll be three months old in a week! But I digress...Sometimes we have to sit there for several minutes piecing together a new outfit or deliberating between a few options. This morning, however, I awoke already knowing what she would wear today. As she is a growing baby, I am trying to put her into all of my favorite 0-3 months stuff one last time. And today is by far one of my favorites. So without further adieu...
I love this outfit for many reasons. 1. I love the classic Winnie the Pooh theme. Her nursery is classic Pooh and it makes me happy every time I go in it! 2. I specifically love the phrase in the picture box. "always enough for two" It's so stinkin adorable! and that's how we go through our days...just the two of us. 3. The material is so soft and pretty! It's a very pretty pale pink (yeah, I bet you never thought I would be saying "pretty" and "pink" in the same sentence unless discussing the Molly Ringwald 80s movie), but I really like it! It has a lace ruffle around the arms and has little eyelet patterns all over. I just love it! And she's about to grow out of it. So I had to share it with everyone so we can all enjoy how utterly fantastic my baby looks in it.
So I wrote a post awhile back, entitled The Vacuum, that addressed Kynzie's digestive issues. She has been pretty colic-y since about two weeks after she was born. However, the has problem has become sooo much better in the last couple of weeks! My doctor, Dr. Pevoto (<--he's with the Austin Area OB/GYN in the Women's Center of the North Austin Medical Center. and he's awesome), tried consoling me at my 6 weeks appointment:
(Kynzie has now been screaming for half an hour in the appointment room)
Me: I am so sorry, it's her gas. It hurts her and so she screams. (p.s. I spent a lot of time telling people this)
Dr: Oh don't worry about it, my first son had colic also.
Me: Really? How long did it last? The last month has been really hard on all of us.
Dr: My son started getting better around 3 months, so congratulations! You're halfway there!
Me: Ohhh...great...
I was not particularly pleased with this. 3 months of this? Even with the vacuum and the white noise, that was going to be a looooong time. Thankfully KK decided to come around a little sooner. Right at about 2 months we started having to use the vacuum a lot less. I also stopped giving her mylicon as often. Seeing her happy so much more of the time has been so awesome!
Needless to say, gas had definitely become a "four letter word" in our home until recently. But not anymore! In fact, Kynzie's gas has become more than just normal; it's actually been really funny the last few days!
Humorous gas story number 1:
The other day Kynzie was hanging out on my lap and we were talking and playing with each other. All of the sudden, she releases some serious air and then throws her head back, opens her mouth wide, and laughs for the first time!! It was the smallest guffaw ever, but most definitely laughter! I may or may not have cried a bit...
Humorous gas story number 2:
Kynzie has begun tooting in her sleep. This is pretty adorable in itself, but this morning she took it to another level! I woke up before her to feed the dogs and have some breakfast. As I was finishing my egg and cheese bagel (my newest breakfast endeavor!) I heard something from our room. It sounded like a horn of some sort. I walked in and heard her moving around a bit and grunting, but by the time I got over to the bassinet she had gone back to sleep. I stood there for a moment watching her beautiful sleep, when it happened again. The loudest fart I think I've ever heard! It actually moved her body up and down! I had to run out of the room because I was laughing so hard!
We may not be completely out of the "colic" phase, but as long as we can laugh and smile at the gas, we'll be ok!
Here's a couple pictures I took this morning of her playing :)
Shockingly enough, I have the time two days in a row to write! This is not normal, but I will rejoice and be glad in it!
KK has discovered the dogs! I use the plural form because as of this last Sunday we are keeping Ender for a while. James got Ender, the stubborn yet thoroughly adorable dachshund, the week before we went on our first date. However, once we got married we lived in an apartment and Ender had a very hard time adjusting to life without grass! So when Aunt Kathy was in search of a dog, we ended up giving him to her to take back home to her three boys and backyard. This last weekend they moved back here and we are holding on to him until they get a place of their own. While the cat and the neighbor's dog are not particularly fond of our new arrival, Ellie and Kynzie are loving it! Kynzie has never really noticed the dog or cat. They can pretty much walk on top of her and she doesn't even twitch. But since Ender showed up and he and Ellie are running around and playing together, KK is in awe! Whenever they play around her, she is fixated. She stares and smiles and coos at them in encouragement! It's adorable. And it makes me happy that she is aware of her surroundings so much more than she used to be! Ender will eventually be returned to his family, but we are enjoying his stay so far!
This last weekend we had guests in the form of two nephews, Zimmer and Bauer. Their parents were helping Aunt Kathy move, so we took them for Friday and some of Saturday. I was so excited to have them come! KK is a blast to be with, but she is still so small! And since I haven't been working, I miss spending times with kids! So, I was pumped to spend some time with these boys. We made rice krispies treats and pancakes, spent time watching strange videos about "the annoying orange" (<-- go look it up...it's an orange with eyes and a mouth...weird), and played outside with the dog and cat. We took a walk to the community park, and Bauer, James, and I even spent a good amount of time coloring some pages in my Winnie the Pooh and VeggieTales coloring books. The boys took baths, James made chocolate milk (I didn't realize it was as simple as milk and syrup...), and there were bedtime stories and singing all around. The most enjoyable times, though, were when the boys would play with Kynzie. They wanted to hold her and touch her all the time! Bauer kept asking to hold her hand or tickle her foot. And Zimmer would just sit and talk to her! They were so sweet!! It made me even more sure that we want another baby. Now now, calm down. I'm not saying that I'm getting pregnant again in a couple months or anything! But seeing the boys with each other made me remember how wonderful it is being a sister! I grew up with two of the best siblings, and seeing Zimmer and Bauer playing with and loving on each other and Kynzie was so great!
Here's a cute picture we took at the playground on Saturday morning
Our family is just now starting out, but I hope one day to have kids that are as happy and fun as these two!!
I have always thanked the Lord that He is sovereign in all things. He knows how to fit things together so perfectly that it seems "natural" -- although even nature spins towards chaos without the Lord's guidance. This has become even more apparent since having Kynzie come into our lives. I was talking to a friend the other night, and she said that I seemed like a "very competent and easygoing mother." Bah! I had to laugh, because I am far from either one of those most of the time! However, because of the Lord's sovereignty, I CAN be competent in His ability to mother my child! As I went through my pregnancy and delivery experience, people constantly commented on what a "great pregnant woman" I was, or how easy my delivery happened to be. It was as if they were congratulating me on my efforts. But I didn't do any of it! There was nothing I could have done to make my experience come out the way it was. I don't have some secret that made me able to go through labor with no drugs. There was no special mystery to maintaining my energy and not gaining much weight through pregnancy. The Lord is sovereign! He works all things for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose. And I've been called! Being a mother has been no different. Whether or not she gets 30 minutes of uninterrupted tummy time a day, KK will crawl. Whether or not I talk to her in the right way or for the recommended length of time, KK will talk. She will grow, learn, and be the person that she is supposed to be, because the Lord is sovereign! And that makes me a competent mother. That allows me to be easygoing. KK is in the best hands, and they are thankfully not my own!
Now, that's not to say that I don't try to be the best mom I can be, and it definitely needs to be said that I freak out and stress all the time about whether I am doing the right things for her. But when I remember who Her eternal father is, and how in control He is, I can relax and enjoy my time with my daughter so much more!
OK, this post was actually not supposed to be about that...at all. but once i got started I just couldn't stop! I guess I will write the post about my weekend later : )
Yep, I am embracing this classic mantra! "But KK is too young for any kind of steps, even baby ones!" you say. Well the baby steps are not for her (yet), but for me! If you had tried to tell me that I would be spending ANY amount of time away from Kynzie already, I would have laughed at you and called you crazy! And yet I have been baby-stepping my way along!
Baby Step number 1:
Ever since Kynzie has begun to grab hold of things and keep hold for a very extended period of time, I have found it essential to get my hair cut. My hair was well down my back and I couldn't seem to keep it out of her hands, no matter where it was! SO, off with the hair! You would think that making a hair appointment would be easy for me since I don't really have any sort of schedule during the week, but I was terrified of sitting down in the chair and then not being able to hold Kynzie if/when she started crying! I made an appointment for a late Saturday afternoon and convinced James that it would be fun to come with me and hold the baby whilst my hair was being cut. (he's awesome, btw) But when it finally came time for me to leave, KK was asleep and James was so comfy on the couch, and I decided to go WITHOUT them. That's right! I put Kynzie in his arms and left the house sans baby, diaper bag, and baby bjorn! It was really hard at first, but by the time I was at Miss Suzy's Salon in Round Rock (let me know if you want a card...Tracy is AWESOME) I had rolled the windows down and was singing Jason Mraz at the top of my lungs! I kept my phone in my hands the whole time, but made it back home without an emergency call from James! When I arrived they were having a great time! Success!!
Baby Step number 2:
So the haircutting appointment was a week ago, and as much as I had enjoyed the time away, I was NOT planning on stepping any more in the near future. Then my parents and sister came into town this weekend (YAY!!!!). They hadn't seen Kynzie in almost a month, and so it was wonderful for them to come to town! On Saturday the men had planned on going golfing and I wanted to take the ladies to Duetchen Pfest at Pfluger Park. However, just as before, when we were going to get ready to go, she fell fast asleep! Turns out my dad didn't really want to go golfing anyway, and so the boys offered to stay home with Kynzie. So Mom, April, and I went to DP all by ourselves! I made it almost 2 hours before calling, and everything was fine! I ran into several Park Crest folks and felt a little guilty that I was out without her. I tried not to, but I wanted to explain to everyone that I still loved her and that I would be going back home to her very soon to hug and kiss her!
Baby Step number 3: (the BIG one)
And yes, I know that a big baby step is an oxymoron, but it's true! See, the first two baby steps allowed James to stay with her while I was out. It's not like I don't trust other people with her, but it made me feel better knowing that one of her two parents was with her! You see, Pirates of the Caribbean #4 came out this last weekend. James and I both enjoyed the first one, and saw the other two even though they got progressively worse. We had already decided that we wouldn't be seeing the fourth one until it came out in netflix because you can't take a 2 month old to the movie theater! And then Dad came through again! He had gone to see it on Friday and since Mom didn't want to see it, they offered to keep Kynzie and let us go! I said, "Yes!" and then promptly freaked out. James and I were going to leave KK? Both of us? At the same time? Oh no. no no no. I tried to back out that afternoon, but then again I really wanted to go out to a movie with my husband and my sister! So in the end, we went :) I spent the half hour before we left going over everything I could think of with my parents: "Here is how she likes to take a bath.", "This is what she should wear to bed." "Here's the milk, here's the bowl, here's the hot water; this is how you warm up a bottle of milk.", etc. It was like I thought my parents had never taken care of a baby! (clearly not true...) But I left, kept my phone in my hand, only texted once to see how she was, and thoroughly enjoyed an evening with James and April. I even got to have a HUGE guilt-free Dr. Pepper since she was drinking a bottle at home and the most amazing pretzel M&Ms. **sidebar: if you haven't had the new pretzel M&Ms you haven't LIVED** When we got home Kynzie was sleeping in her bassinet and Grammy and PopT were watching TV! It was wonderful!
In the end, I still want to spend all of my time with her in my arms, but turns out I don't HAVE to! It was a wonderful weekend full of fun and love and an extremely happy baby! Now I feel like this:
Kynzie has been starting to make some pretty awesome noises lately. When she is awake and alert, which is more and more of the time, James or I will sit her down facing us and start talking to her. And sure enough, KK will start talking back to us! She is probably the cutest thing in the whole world when she does this. We will sit there for as long as she will stand it and listen to her make her little coos and snorts. A-DORABLE!
And for your viewing pleasure, here's a short video of her talking to Daddy tonight :)
p.s. cheers to James for being amazing and patient. i might have gone a little crazy trying to save and post this video...he's awesome for putting up with me :)
