Saturday, July 31, 2010

Life in Motion

Things are interesting around here. We have good days now (where our sweet little one willl take a nap or two NOT in Mommy's arms) and some that remind us of the first few weeks (where she doesn't want to be put down.) "Getting to sleep" happens anywhere from 11:15 to 1:30 (sadly) but then she'll sleep in 2-4 hour stretches normally, in her own bed which is really nice compared to a few weeks ago. If only our other two kids would sleep past 6:45...
Jeremy has stayed busy with school and the clinic, and we've started packing a few boxes in preparation for our move in 2 months. That is completely crazy. We're not really sure where Jeremy is going to be interning yet, but the kids and I are planning to go home to Pima for a few months while he does that. It's over Christmas, so even if he ends up far away, he'll be back for a few weeks in the middle of it. We will miss him terribly, but it will be easier not to move all of our stuff somewhere for 3-4 months, and cheaper and simpler than trying to find a big enough place for all 5 of us for that short time, too. It will be good for the kids to be able to spend a lot of time with both sets of grandparents, too.  It still seems strange that we will be MOVING away from Davenport, though. We will have lived here for just over 3 years. Both of our daughters were born here. The snow can be so beautiful, and it is so green. We have loved getting to spend time in Nauvoo, take some trips to Chicago, and a see a few other things here and on the road between here and home. Still, we are very ready to move on (and get a little closer to family, hopefully!). There are definitely things we will miss, though. Mostly people. (Some of whom have already moved on themselves.) Probably not Palmer itself...
Today Jeremy went down to the temple with friends, and the kids and I are hanging out. Katy took a wonderful 2-hour nap on her changing table this morning. When she does that, the rest of the day goes well, mostly because I already accomplished at least a few things. We actually have the car today (we haven't had one much lately, because the likelihood of me using it is generally slim with 3 kiddos, one of them being tiny and unpredictable...) and I think we're going to attempt a late afternoon trip to the new Eastern branch of the library (we will MISS the nice library system here!) after Jaina wakes up from her nap. Wish me luck. It will be our first unaccompanied trip. (other than just driving to church when Jeremy's already there)

Pictures and happenings:
First, a few pictures that were lost on our other camera. Here is Katy (we decided to spell her name this way - it's a little closer to Kathryn. We hadn't really talked about it before) with a Mickey Mouse. She was super impressed.
Here is big-sister-Jaina holding little Katy. She gets so excited to do this. Around 3-4 weeks here?



And here is the cutest little burrito on the Missippi. She will sometimes take a nap on her changing table. So nice!


Here are some pictures Jeremy took of her at one month old. Her baby acne was worst at that point (I touched up the worst of it, because she had also scratched her cheek quite impressively a few minutes before these pics) but she never got it very badly at all. At least not yet. We're blessing her tomorrow, so we might be home free for those pics. :)

Here are a few pictures at 5 weeks, in some cute outfits from her cousin, Kinzi.
And some taken just yesterday morning, at 6 weeks old.
She is getting so big, and weighs over 10 pounds! Reilly didn't even weigh 9 pounds until he was 2 months old, and Jaina was less than that... We're not sure what to do with a baby this big. :)

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Zombie Jamboree

I just have to keep reminding myself that this is still the hardest part, and that things will ease up in the next 4-5 weeks. Or even in the next 4-5 days, when Katy and I are over our colds, hopefully. There is very little sleep going on around here, especially since that little girl can't seem to stay asleep when set down (9 times out of 10). Of course as I type this she's napping in her pack n' play, which is almost unheard of. I'd better go lay down in a few minutes...
A few more Happenings....

Jeremy's mom came to visit us about a week and a half ago. She snapped these pictures for us after church that day. Katy is 3 1/2 weeks old in the pics, and the group shots are as good as it got. Our kiddos were not very interested  in being part of it...






A few more pictures of Katy...

Jeremy got brave while his mom was here and they and the older kiddos went down to Nauvoo for the afternoon and to see the pageant that night. They didn't get home until 1 that night. I was SO glad I didn't go. Here are some cute pictures from their trip down there. Is there anything cuter than that little pioneer girl?? :)




The afternoon before her plane left last Saturday, we had some yummy lunch at the Machine Shed, and took a few more pictures outside. :) We were definitely sad to lose the extra helping hands, and Reilly and Jaina miss the attention. Reilly keeps talking about going to Arizona to see his Grandmas and Grandpas...

Sunday, July 18, 2010

Just in case you're wondering...

why we haven't called you or returned your calls or whatever, it's not because we don't love everyone. We're just hanging out trying to keep our heads above water around here.  Some nights and days are better than others, but in general we're doing our best to just get through the newborn phase and try to figure out our plans for the near future. Reilly and Jaina love their little sister, but have been having some behavioral problems with the adjustment. We hope that that will get better with time.
Other things we're hoping will improve soon:
-Katy's ratio of sleeping on her own vs. sleeping only when being held
-The ratio of clean to dirty dishes
-The stress level relating to where we're all moving to in the near future
-The total combined hours slept each night in our house
-The humidity level in the midwest
Wish us luck!

Happenings:
Lots of playing in the water, whenever possible:

Celebrating the 4th of July, about as much as we could handle this year: patriotic cupcakes and staying up late to see fireworks...

Returning to church as a family and even attempting a picture:
Sisters:
And the day Katy got more mail than anyone!
How could a face this cute cause ANY trouble?

Thursday, July 8, 2010

A little sunshine

After 3 nights of not being able to lay this little girl down until after 2 am (4 am Tuesday night...) and nursing constantly, I got a decent night's sleep last night (mostly due to Jeremy taking her from 11:30 to 1:30 and getting her into a nice deep sleep), plus we had a WIC appointment today to weigh her, and it went well!

I could never get my other two kids back to birthweight before a month, plus ended up having to supplement with both, which led to early weaning. (6 months and 4 months) At one week, Katy was down to 7 lbs 10 oz from her birthweight of 8 lbs 7 oz, so it was looking the same this time around. And, as with the others, she nurses ALL the time. Like attached to me (much for comfort nursing) 12-15 hours of the day, I'd say... But between weeks 1 and 2 she gained 7 oz, and she gained 8 ounces this week. She's up to 8 lbs 9 oz! I'm just so happy I could cry (and I did...). At least all the constant nursing is paying off this time around, and no need to supplement (or even pump extra, thankfully) for now! Plus, she didn't scream on either 15 minute drive (she's not a fan of her car seat) and she's still sleeping in her seat 30 minutes after we got home (she normally won't nap unless she's held) so I get to be "free" for a few minutes! Happy day, indeed...

Friday, July 2, 2010

By popular demand...

More pictures.

Things are going okay here. And I think that's mostly because Jeremy is home about 80% of the time. He's keeping us all (and the house) going and from falling into disrepair. This little girl is sweet and happy, as long as she's being held. Every once in a while I can lay her down for a nap, and it's really nice! I can't complain too much, because we can also usually get her to sleep in her carseat during much of the night. I tried sleeping IN bed some with the other two, and my back and neck didn't agree with it so much...  Here she is in her normal sleeping position.

We were all sad to see my parents and Uncle Spencer go home last Saturday morning. The kids especially enjoyed Grandpa this time, and Grandma was the best at keeping our Katy-girl for stretches of the night by somehow convincing her that she wasn't really hungry. Mom, I think all the cute pictures of you and her are on YOUR camera, so I'll need to get those from you...  Grandpa did "nap duty" several afternoons, and I think they both enjoyed it...

Reilly is missing his Wii partner (Uncle Spencer) and Jaina is just missing attention, period. Her parents aren't nearly as sympathetic when she's feeling dramatic and abused...


Katy had her 2-week check up yesterday, and had thankfully gained about an ounce a day this last week. At one week she was 7 lbs 10 oz (down from 8-7 at birth) so I had been worrying about her gaining enough. She was up to 8 lbs 1 oz Thursday, and maybe she'll hit her birthweight sooner than the month it took her older siblings to do it in...

Her cord finally fell off just shy of 2 weeks, and now her cute cloth diapers are fitting a little better. She's not a huge fan of diaper changes in general though, especially if she's trying to sleep.
Reilly and Jaina are hanging in there, but they're probably wondering if life is ever going to get back to normal again...
And finally, some pics of all three kids, because my mom was beginning to wonder if such things would ever exist...
(I think this was a day only Jeremy and Katy actually made it out of pajamas...)