Oopsies

One day while Kensie was sleeping I went in to check on her. I found Kensie shaking her head back and forth with the bow over her eyes. I started laughing pretty hard because she looked hilarious. Then she closed her eyes and settled back to sleep with the bow still over her eyes. Silly girl.

Testing 1..2..3..

We had Marleen, Spencer, and their girls over to our house a few weeks after we moved in. We had a picnic at the park behind our house and then tested out our pool and hot tub for the first time! Their girls loved the hot tub and didn't want to get out! Niel was brave enough to jump in the pool (it wasn't heated yet). We've used the hot tub several times and we're looking forward to lots of pool parties next summer! We can't wait to get Kensie in her swimsuit and take her swimming!

Church

We took Kensie to church for the first time when she was three weeks old. I felt good enough to go and thought it would be nice to get out of the house. Bad idea...

Side note: Since I thought we were going to have a big baby I didn't buy any newborn dresses. I had this one dress (pictured) that was given to me size 0-3 months. It was still huge on her!

It ended up being way more stressful than it was worth and I didn't get anything out of church. I spent half the time in the mother's lounge feeding her and changing diapers. The other half was spent sitting on the pue rocking, bouncing, and doing everything in my power to prevent her from bursting into an outcry (she was very temperamental that day). Since she was only three weeks old I got nervous whenever someone sneezed, coughed, got close, etc. The next week at church wasn't much different. I always wondered why some women waited like six weeks to take their babies to church. Now I know... Note to self: Wait until baby is at least five weeks to take to church. It's worth the peace of mind.

First Month

Kensie was two months last week but I am just getting around to documenting the first month of her life. I will catch up one of these days.

At Kensie's first month appointment she screamed bloody murder almost from check-in to check-out. Everyone in the waiting room was giving me dirty looks. The nurse said, "Wow, she has some lungs". The doctor confirmed my suspicions that Kensie has colic but assured me that it should get much better by two months.

First month stats:

25th percentile for weight: 8 lbs 5 oz.

50th percentile for height: 21 inches

10-25th percentile for head circumference: 35 1/2 cm

Here is a summary of the first month with Kensie.

I will never forget those first few days after she was born. At the hospital she laid in her little box next to me and I couldn't keep my eyes off her. I couldn't believe that this tiny, beautiful, baby girl was ours! Bringing her home from the hospital was so fun as it felt like we had a little doll to take care of. She was so tiny, cuddly, and sweet.

Kensie was a natural at nursing from the start. It didn't take long until she was wanting to eat ALL the time. She would root and act hungry and then fall asleep after eating for about two minutes. This ended up being a vicious cycle because shet wanted to eat every hour. ugh. SO...my doctor told me to do whatever it took to keep her awake. I kept a wet washcloth on the rocker every time I fed her and would wipe her forehead with the wet washcloth to keep her awake. I also tickled her toes and back. It worked sometimes but she still got really sleepy. This got a little better after about two weeks but I still have to work to keep her awake.

The first two weeks she had her days and nights mixed up. She slept all day long and then kept mom up most of the night. She was waking up every hour at night and would have a fussy time late at night. She wouldn't go to sleep until 11 p.m. or midnight. At about three weeks she got things figured out and started sleeping a lot better. She starting sleeping for two to four hours at a time.

Kensie didn't cry much the first two weeks of her life. The first time we heard her cry loud was the first time we gave her a bath. At three weeks she started getting more fussy and letting mom and dad know she had lungs! Every night around 7 or 8 p.m. she would start crying. Then it would escalate quickly to a full-on scream mode. Nothing we did could console her. That was SO hard.

Cute little things she did during the first month...

She makes funny facial expressions just like her dad

She sticks her hands straight up and waves them in the air

She does cute poses and rests her face on her hands

She thinks she is falling and flails her arms anytime you lay her flat on her back

She does a kissy face

She grunts like an old man all the time, especially when she sleeps

When she is done eating she purses her lips

She does BIG stretches and arches her back

As soon as we change her diaper she likes to poop and pee in between diapers

She wore newborn clothes the whole first month

She likes going outside and going for car rides

When I change her diaper she sticks her legs straight out and holds them mid-air

The first month with Kensie was a lot harder than I imagined it would be between the sleepless nights and the colic. But even after a long night of crying and keeping me up, the next morning I couldn't even stay mad at her because she is so stinkin' cute:) Even though she has been a challenging baby we love her lots and love having her as a part of our life.

Breaking My Own Rules

I have always been a stickler about waiting until the day after Thanksgiving to listen to Christmas music and prepare for the holiday. This year I'm breaking my own rules. I started listening to Christmas music a few days ago. I am also anxious to get our tree up before Thanksgiving and decorate our new house! Why? It seems that every year the month of December flies by. So I thought I'd start earlier this year and enjoy the holiday season to its fullest! One of my all-time favorite Christmas albums is Celine Dion's. I'm not a huge fan of Celine Dion but her Christmas CD is spectacular. Frank Sinatra and Elvis are also favorites. And promise not to make fun of me but I've loved Dolly Parton & Kenny Roger's Christmas album since I was a little girl. I'm wanting to buy some new Christmas music this year including Michael Buble's Christmas CD. Any other suggestions?

Newborn Pictures

I got Kensie's newborn pictures taken when she was three weeks old. In the midst of packing and preparing to move, I failed to find a photographer for newborn pictures. So, I decided to take her to JcPenney to get them taken before she got any older.

On our way to get pictures Kensie was crying the whole time and continued to cry when we arrived at the portrait studio. I started wondering why on earth I was trying to do this (especially by myself) and that there was no way we were getting any good pictures. When we arrived our photographer was really sweet and said luckily there weren't any other appointments. The photographer let me feed Kensie first and then she spent almost an hour taking her pictures! Kensie was SO good-I couldn't believe it! I was nervous how they would turn out but I ended up being pretty happy with the results, especially for the price. Here are a few of the pictures.

This first one is my favorite

I love this sweet little girl.

Hands Up

The first several weeks after being born, Kensie loved to sleep with her arms up. We would swaddle her before bed and somehow she always managed to get her arms out and above her head. She sleeps with her arms up every once in awhile now but not like she used to. I thought it was the funniest thing. She is a little character.

Aunt Lori

When Kensie was a week and a half old, my oldest sister Lori came to visit me. I loved having her here. Since there is a sixteen year age gap between us, we haven't spent a lot of one on one time together. It was great to spend time with her and learn from her as an experienced mother of four. I really look up to my sister Lori. She is one of those people who everyone loves and admires. Lori is a great friend, mother, sister, and wife. She is talented, spiritual, charitable, funny, and not to mention she is in great shape. I hope that someday I can be as good of a mother and wife that she is. She helped me so much while visiting and Kensie loved her. Thanks Lori!

Halloween

Saturday night we got Kensie dressed in her pumpkin costume for the trunk or treat. Just as we got her in the car seat, I received a text from my friend saying the trunk or treat ended early. So we went car shopping instead...and Kensie sported her pumpkin costume.

Niel and I were excited to have trick or treaters for the first time since we finally have our own place. It ended up not being as cool as we thought it was going to be since most of the kids were over the age of ten. Consequently, Halloween ended up being somewhat boring, but at least we had an adorable little pumpkin to celebrate it with! Last year at this time I was really wanting a little baby and this year I have one!

Wicked...

Wickedly cute that is!

Tammy, one of the ladies Niel works with gave Kensie this cute little outfit for Halloween. Kensie pulls it off well.