first bath

This post is a flash back to December 14, 2012, when Adelyn had her first "real" bath at home. She was not too enthusiastic about the process, but Hunter was! He wanted to be involved in any way possible. He got her a bath toy, sat by her side and really wanted to help with the soap.

Here are a few pictures!

Outing

Today, after 9 weeks of having 2 children, I took my first solo outing with both children (besides a trip to church when Josh had drill). I am physically feeling better than I have felt in months and with Adelyn sleeping through the night more I thought I was rested up for the challenge.

Hunter & I used to take all kinds of outings during the week when it was just the two of us. I have really missed that freedom and flexibility lately and I am not the only one. In fact, Hunter asked me if we could go to Target this week. Love that kid! So this morning I decided it would be fun to go to the mall and hit up the train table at Barnes & Noble. I fed Adelyn, changed her and packed the diaper bag. And off we went. Adelyn tends to hate being put in her car seat so the first five minutes of the drive she was screaming. But then she fell asleep. And she slept for about an hour!

During that hour, Hunter and I read several books, played with trains and he spent a lot of time on my lap. Just like old times! When she woke up, I told Hunter to play with the trains so I could feed her. For the most part, he stayed right in the area. As I was feeding Adelyn, she had a blow out. It wasn't until I got home that I realized some of it got on my shirt... true sign of motherhood: walking through the mall with poo on your shirt. I got her cleaned up, then finished feeding her and by then it was time to go home to eat lunch. I told Hunter it was time to go, turned to put Adelyn in her car seat and heard Hunter screaming, "NO!!!!" He took off running as fast as he could away from me. I had a moment of sheer panic... do I dare try to maneuver a giant double stroller quickly through the store as I chase after my 2-year-old? Or do I leave Adelyn and all my stuff here and chase after him? Thankfully, he unknowingly turned and ran back toward me down a different aisle. I was able to corner him while not going too far from Adelyn.

Then, I desperately had to go to the bathroom. Our stroller is a "sit and stand" so if you use an infant carrier, the other child must stand. Hunter is usually pretty good at standing on the stroller and he likes it. But this does not strap him down. So, without going into too much detail, in the middle of me using the restoom, Hunter runs around the stall and unlocks the door. With the door wide open and my 2 year old exploring the entire bathroom, I quickly pull my pants up and chase after him once again.

Finally, we make our way to the van. I have gotten in the habit of opening the door on Adleyn's side, letting Hunter crawl through, putting Adelyn in her seat and then walking around and strapping in Hunter. I did that, shut the door so I knew both kids were in the van, and then attempted to put the stroller in the back of the van. I wrestled that thing for a good 2.5 minutes and could not get it to fold down. So I tried to put it in the back of our van with it standing up. But the door wouldn't close, so I put it back on the ground and tried again to fold it. All the while, Adelyn is screaming and Hunter is terrorizing my van, since I haven't strapped him into his seat yet. Finally the stroller collapsed, just in time for me to save Adelyn from getting her eye poked for the 12th time this morning.

Adelyn screamed the whole way home.

I am glad I went and I know Hunter had a great time until I told him it was time to go home. And I find hope in knowing that this will get easier!

Adelyn, 2 months!

Adelyn is two months old. WOW! She has been such a little blessing to our family. She is laid back and mild mannered. Her smile melts my heart and is the highlight of my days!!!
2 month stats:
Weight: 11 lbs, 11.8 oz
Height: 22.5 inches

She has started to sleep through the night. Last night she had her longest night yet: 9 hours. Ahhh I am so proud!!! This week her night sleep has varied from 5 hours to 9 hours, usually somewhere around 7.5 or 8. This is great for her and great for me, too. I am starting to feel like myself again.

Her brother still makes her tougher by the day! He thinks her head makes a great track for his cars and her eyes are totally fun to poke. Poor thing, it truly is hard to be the second child!! Hunter kisses her and sings to her, too. He absolutely loves her and wants to make sure she is included in all his play time. Right after this picture was taken, Hunter sat on her head.
The doctor said, "She is perfect!" She also said that Adelyn looks like a 2 month old but has the physical ability of a 3 month old. She wrote in her notes that she is "an alert, social, happy baby." Adelyn got 2 shots and an oral vaccine this month. She was not very happy the rest of the day. When she was awake, she was crying, but most of the afternoon and evening she spent asleep.
We are so thankful for Adelyn!

Iowa in January

This Weekend we went to Iowa to visit Josh's parents and introduce them to Adelyn. Good times! Here are a few pictures!

Hunter: 30 months

Hunter is now 2 & 1/2! He is transforming from a baby into a little boy before my eyes. He continually amazes me with his ability to listen and follow directions. Every day he matures a little more. He now calls me, "MommaKim" when he is asking for something or trying to be charming. This nickname always makes me smile! He calls Josh "DaDaJosh" which is equally adorable. His vocabulary is huge.

He loves to play with trains and cars. For Christmas, he was given a parking garage and though it is made for little people cars it has become a beloved home for all of his cars from the movie Cars. He plays with that garage for hours at a time, seriously. He commands, "Momma sit on the floor and play cars with me!" Another favorite is his train track with all his trains. This captivates him for a long time, too. He loves to sword fight and pillow fight daddy in the evenings and cuddle mommy with a book before bed.

We are still working on expanding his diet. He loves bread, cheese and milk and we have been offering more and more vegetables and fruits daily. He likes orange juice a lot!

He loves being around baby sister. He turns on music for her and gives her lots of kisses. Today in the car she was crying a little bit and Hunter turned to her and said, "Shhh Shh sister, we'll be home soon."

He makes us laugh all the time! He loves to be a stand up comedian!

Here are some of my favorite Hunter stories lately:
1. Today he requested orange juice. I got him some and he sat down and drank it. Then he said, "Mommy, I talking. My mouth has new batteries!!"
2. He came home from the log cabin on Wednesday singing the song deep and wide. He was also singing something that had the line, "down in my soul." I was prompting him to sing more of the song so I said, "Hunter, what is down in your soul?" He thought for a second and then said, "COOKIES!"
3. He has started to show fear at night when we leave him in his dark room. He is particularly scared of shadows. He told us that a shadow touched his head and played with his hair and that he didn't like it. We have told him that God is with him at night and that he doesn't need to be afraid. Last night as we were putting him down he said, "Jesus is in the dark, Mommy."

1 month: part 2

Yesterday Adelyn had her 1 month appointment, so I have to post again! We just love our new pediatrician. She is a mom as well as a doctor so her advice is both medical as well as personal. We feel so blessed to have her as our doctor. She has taken on Hunter as well! Hooray! We have never been pleased with Hunter's doctor here in STL so what a blessing to now find someone we like that will accept our insurance and care for our kiddos!!!

Adelyn's 1 month stats:
weight: 9 lbs, 15.8 oz (68%)
height: 21 inches (50%)
head: 14 7/8 (61%)

Adelyn got a great report from the doctor. She said Adelyn's body control is more like a 2 month old baby. The way she moves, holds her hed up, and lays on her side were all markers of a baby older than one month. In fact, at one point during the appointment the doctor started shuffling papers and said, "This is her one month check right? She isn't two months old?" We all laughed and I assured her that Adelyn is still just one month old. I have felt from the beginning that Adelyn was born with the skills of a baby a few weeks old. She fights to hold up her head and she has done that since day one. Physically, she above the curve.
Adelyn ready to go to her appointment:

The doctor also commented on how social she was already. She smiled at the doctor! It was a great appointment. Adelyn only had to get one shot. Here she is showing off her band aid:
Here is Hunter loving on her as always:

Adelyn, 1 month

Adelyn is one month old today. It is crazy how fast these early days go. She has been a wonderful baby. Seriously, she has been such a little pleasure to have around. She nurses quickly and quite well, she sleeps great and when she is awake is generally happy and pleasant. She loves to cuddle and spends her free time swinging or staring at the Christmas tree.

She sleeps in mommy & daddy's room in her bassinet at night. During the day she sleeps in her swing, her bouncer, or on mommy's lap. Right now she is taking her very first nap in her crib. She eats between 8-10 times a day, usually.

Hunter is so good with her. He loves being near her, giving her kisses and touching her "nicely." He is still learning how to be gentle with her and he is sometimes disappointed that she won't play with the toys he offers her. But overall he is really a great big brother. He calls her "my baby" and "baby sister." He says she is "soooo cute" and he laughs at all the little noises she makes.

Adelyn fits in the family quite naturally. It has been an easy transition adding her into the mix.

I am still healing but doing so much better than I was after my c-section with Hunter.