1 Month and some randomness

It makes me so sad to know that Makenzie is already 1 month old! The time is just flying by and I feel like I have hardly blinked and a month is gone. We are just so thankful for our little girl, she is an amazing baby and such a wonderful addition to our family.

At one month Makenzie went to visit the doctor's for her first 'sick' visit. She wasn't really sick, but I wanted to bring her in for the doctor to take a look at her. I was afraid that she was refluxing at night and was congested. Although she was sleeping like a champ, she would only sleep after feeding if she was held upright. So while she slept great Mom and Dad weren't sleeping much because we had to sit up holding her for at least an hour after each feeding. If we tried putting her down even 15 minutes earlier she would start making all sorts of noises and grunting. The doctor agreed that it sounded like reflux and suggested that we test out a na.p nann.y to see if she would sleep any better. He said that he had one he would loan us to test out before we bought one since they are not cheap. That night Makenzie slept much better. She did a good 5 1/2 hour stretch and then skipped one of her usual feedings not waking again for another 4 hours. We were pretty excited, but didn't want to run and buy one just yet. We thought we would test it out again at least one more night and see. The next two nights she went 7 hours!!!! Again, she only woke twice the whole night from around 7:30ish to 7:30ish in the morning to feed. We decided we would go buy one and did so first thing on Monday. Now that she is sleeping in a more upright position Makenzie is sleeping longer stretches and we are able to put her down as soon as she burps.

Other than our little sleeping issue Makenzie is doing great. She is a very easy going baby and hardly ever complains (of course if you ask her sister she would say she cries all the time). She enjoys being at the dinner table with the family, loves to be in her swing or playing under her jungle gym of toys. She is doing amazing with tummy time and lifting her head; she is just so strong. She is developing exactly as she should be for a one month old and is growing bigger every day!

Makenzie isn't quite on a schedule yet. Since we have been so busy lately it has been hard to set one. I am hoping that over the next two or three weeks when things will be slowing down a bit we can get her more on a schedule. She does great at night and typically goes to bed sometime between 7:30 and 8:00. She then wakes any where between midnight and two o'clock for a feeding. She eats and immediately goes right back to sleep. She then typically sleeps until 4:30 or 5:00. Again she eats and immediately goes back to sleep until sometime between 7:30 and 8:00. Once she gets up for the day the rest of her schedule at this time has been pretty random. Most days she wants to get every 2-3 hours depending on what we are doing and she has various periods of wakefulness. Some days she is awake and playing in the morning and others it is in the evening before bed. One thing that she has been pretty consistent with lately is wanting to eat every hour starting around 4ish until bedtime. While that is pretty tiring, especially when we are trying to prepare and eat dinner I think that is why she is sleeping such a long stretch so I will take it.

Makenzie's One Month Stats:
Weight: 9 lbs 4 oz on June 14th
Length: 20.5 inches (last checked on June 5th)
Clothing: 0-3 months. Just about everything labeled newborn has been packed away
Diaper size:  1

I feel so guilty that these are the only pictures I have taken of Makenzie in the past week. I totally understand now why there are so few pictures of me as a baby since I was number 3. It is definitely a lot harder to keep up when you have 2 to be chasing after.

Other than enjoying watching Makenzie grow over the past couple of weeks we have also been very busy spending lots of quality time with my mom. She came out on June 6th to visit with the girls. We had not seen her in three years, so Morgan and her had a lot of catching up to do. Morgan had a blast introducing her Memere to all her ponies and teaching her all about horses through all her books. Memere must have played ponies and read horse books at least 10 hours a day. I think Morgan will be going through major withdrawl now that she is gone.

Over the two weeks we not only kept busy with playing ponies, but also with lots of shopping, getting pictures done of the girls (twice, one with both of them and once for Morgan's 5 year old pics , I had a coupon so we had to go 2 different times), five doctor's appointments, a visit from my sister Jen and her girls, and tons of other things. It was an amazing visit and David and I were so grateful to have my mom here to help out with both the girls. 

Playing ponies. Morgan had Memere help make barrels for barrel racing and flower wreaths for the 'winner's circle.' They had so much fun together!

Reading one of many horse books before bedtime. 

3 and 4 Weeks Old

Time is flying by these days and each day seems to blur into the next. We have been very busy around here even though we really haven't been doing too much. It seems that every time I try to sit down to update the blog the little one wakes up and needs to be fed again, so this will be a quick one.


On Tuesday, May 29th we went back to the pediatrician for another weight check. They wanted to continue checking Makenzie until she got back up to or past her birth weight. A week prior she had weighed in at 6 lbs 15 oz. That week she did great with her feedings and weighed in at 7 lbs 9 oz, completely surpassing her birth weight of 7 lbs 3.3 oz and so we are now done with weight checks. Yeah!

The following Tuesday, June 5th we were back again at the doctor's, this time for Makenzie's 3 week check-up. She continued gaining weight at a steady pace and was up to 8 lbs 6 oz! She is really starting to fill out. They measured her that day at 20.5 inches.

Stats:
Weight: 8 lbs 6 oz
Height: 20.5 inches
Diapers: Size 1
Clothing: newborns (although they are getting very tight)
Eating: Makenzie is breastmilk. She is great a both nursing and taking a bottle which makes all the on-the-go doctor appointments we have for Morgan a little easier.
Sleeping: She sleeps like a champ! At night she has pretty much put herself on a schedule. She goes to bed between 8 and 8:30 most nights. She then sleeps until midnight and gets up to eat. She then goes back to bed until sometime between 3 and 4. Again she eats and goes right back to sleep. She then wakes around 6 for another feeding. Most days she then goes back to sleep again until around 8 or 9.


Here are some pictures of Makenzie's 3rd and 4th week happenings:  

 

I love how she just spreads out to sleep.

Here you can tell she is starting to chunk up a bit.

Testing out her bouncer for an afternoon nap.

Makenzie's first big girl bath. Her big sis of course wanted to be a part of it.

Snuggle time with her big sis!

Morgan loves to read to her little sister. Makenzie is getting quite the education on horses.

We took a trip to the airport to pick up my mom. Morgan made her a sign so she could find us.

Makenzie is enjoying lots of snuggle time with her Memere.

The little ones are both calling.....hopefully I can do better next week with updates for now that is all.

2 Weeks Old!

So I wrote this post earlier in the week and am just now getting around to actually finishing it.....


Two weeks have now passed since Makenzie joined our family and I can not believe how fast she is growing. It makes me sad to think she is already over two weeks old....I want to savor every moment of her being tiny and cuddley because I know how quickly these moments will be gone.

We had a busy second week. Here are some of the top moments for Makenzie's second week:

1. Weight Check: Makenzie went in on Tuesday, May 22nd for a weight check. In four days she had gone from 6 lbs. 12 oz. to 6 lbs. 15 oz.

 2. Makenzie had her first visit to her grandparents' house. Donna and Charley babysat her for a couple of hours while David and I ran up to my school to take all my stuff off the walls. I am having to move my classroom which is always a fun challenge when you are supposed to be enjoying your maternity leave.

3. Makenzie tested out her bouncy seat....it was exhausting work.

4. The girls played 'doctor' together. I am sure Makenzie will be glad when she is bigger and doesn't always have to be the patient. Morgan was sure to check out her ears, listen to her heart and chest (even telling her to "take a deep breathe."), and give her a shot. 

 5. Makenzie met her big cousins Caity and Lindsey along with her Auntie Jen.

Caity, 13, and Makenzie 1 week 6 days

6. Makenzie enjoyed her first slumber party with her cousins. Hopefully there will be many more of those in the years to come!

7. Makenzie wore another one of her adorable little girl outfits. She looks so cute in this little outfit!

8. Makenzie lost her umbilical cord. On Monday evening at exactly 2 weeks old Makenzie's cord came off. Morgan was so excited for her sister she kept yelling "Hooray for Makenzie!" Morgan knew that since the cord was now off it meant she could take a real bath.

***On a side note as I was working on this post during afternoon snack I looked up from my computer and saw this. 

Being a big sis is hard work.