Kylie's 1st Halloween

Even though it was Kylie's 1st Halloween we did not really dress her up. We actually did not do much of anything but watch football. I figured that trick or treating was not an option since she is just now cooing so we dressed her up in a Halloween outfit and let that be Halloween. She looked so cute in her little pumpkin hat! We did however have some over night guests. Our friends Daniel and Laurel are in the process of moving and needed a place to crash. So they came over to eat, sleep, and play with Kylie....thanks Laurel for rocking her to sleep. So that was our exciting Halloween. I am sure next year will be much more exciting.

My First Sleepover

My aunt Linda and cousin Kellie brought Hadley (Kellie's 11 week old) to visit this week. I think all of us were curious as to how it would go with two babies under the same roof but it went great. The girls did so well together. Kylie learned so much from Hadley this week. She has learned to take a bath without crying, take good naps throughout the day, and how to only wake up once during the night. Scheduling Kylie was so much easier with another baby around. Unfortunately, Kylie is still struggling as we introduce her to the bottle. I just hate watching her get so upset but I have to be persistant because other people are going to have to feed her in the coming weeks. Anyway back to this week, my aunt was a huge help with running my house and cooking up a ton of food for Kyle and I; and Kellie was a huge help with Kylie's schedule. It was so good to have them here. We hated to see them leave but we will see them again soon.

1 Month

I cannot believe that today Kylie is one month old. Time is flying by. She has changed so much this month. These are some of Kylie's one month facts: 1. Kylie HATES bath time 2. She loves her crib but only at night. During the day she will only sleep either on me or on my bed. At the moment I am not too concerned about this because once I go back to work she will have no choice but to sleep in a crib during the day. 3. She has started cooing, scooting, and holding her head up (not for long, just a few seconds). 4. She is beginning to enjoy being by herself. I could not believe it when Kyle put her down by herself on the couch the other night (he was sitting right beside her) and she could not have been more content. This is now making our days together so much more enjoyable. Don't get me wrong I love holding her but I do have to eat and go to the bathroom! 5. She has started to focus on my face when I talk to her. 6. She is slowly but surely working from eating every two hours to every two and a half to three hours during the day. She usually wakes up about every 4 hours at night. 7. I am trying to work on routines with her...mostly bathing off at night (not fun with all of the screaming), keeping a consistent time with her feedings, and keeping night times consistent. We don't have set times that we do everything that just depends on her but there is a routine at least so she knows when it is day and when it is night. 8. She loves to be swaddled and she still loves her mittens. 9. She constantly moves her arms and legs. She is wonderful..and beautiful. I love her more everyday. It feels like she has been with us for longer than a month. BTW, thanks to everyone who has called or emailed me with tips and advice and encouragement. We have been putting all of it to good use. Every week is better than the week before and every week is different than the week before. I cannot wait to see what all she is doing by month 2. The first picture is Kylie at 1 month and the next is at 2 weeks. The nudey picture is us trying to wake her last night to feed her. She had not slept all day so of course she was passed out last night but it had been three hours since she had not eaten. I hate waking up a sleeping baby. She just looks so angelic.

Visitors

As you can tell by the lack of posts things have been very busy around here. Every time I get to the computer Kylie calls for me...but we are making progress and right now she is sound asleep. So now for an update over the last month Kylie has had several visitors. At 2 weeks she got to meet her great grandmother aka Granny and her great aunt aka Aunt Lynda. This is Kyle's grandmother and aunt. And then this past weekend she got to meet her uncle Tyler. She was very good for all of them. They could not believe how little she is and just how much she loves to move around. Here are some pictures of her meeting family and a few extras.

Introducing Kylie!

Kylie Brooke arrived Tuesday, September 22nd at 8:20 pm. She weighed 7.4 lbs and was 20 inches long. Everything went smoothly but it was a LONG day. Kyle and I arrived at the hospital at 5:30 am to check in. At about 7:20 my doctor arrived and broke my water. I dialated relatively quickly to 6 cm but then we hit a wall early afternoon. After several hours of no change I thought we were going to have to do a section but luckily things turned around at 4:30 and I rapidly progressed to 9 cm. This was a blessing but definitely the worst part of the whole day. I was shaking like crazy, burning up, and the pain was getting more intense (I did however have an epidural it was just kicking in again). Then at 6:00 pm the pushing began. It was such a surreal experience. I still cannot believe it is all over. I imagined it all completely different. I guess I always thought there would be several nurses helping my doctor and it would be very intense but I was calmly guided through the whole process and only did a second nurse appear at the very end and this nurse was there just for Kylie. Once Kylie arrived she did have to be monitored for about 5 minutes due to rapid breathing but then she was placed in my arms. I think I was too exhausted to truly take in that moment but it was amazing to hold her for the first time. She was so pleasant. She just laid there in my arms so quiet and peaceful. Then after about an hour our family came in to see her. I have never seen such happy grandparents in my life. They were all so proud. The grandparents were followed by my brother and two of my aunts. By this point, I was completely out of it and just let them enjoy her. We got to come home Thursday evening at about 8:00 pm. It was another long day but I was so thankful to come home and lay in my bed with no nurses to disturb us every few minutes. So now we are just focusing on Kylie's feeding times and resting. She sure does love to sleep! It still amazes me and Kyle that we had a child this week. She is just perfect. We love our precious girl.

The End is Almost Here

I went to the doctor for my weekly appointment and the doctor has decided that next Tuesday the 22nd will be the day Kylie arrives. She will technically be a few days early but the doctor is a little concerned with how big she may actually be. Right now she is around 7-7.5 lbs and my belly is ALL Kylie. This explains the constant pain I have from her. Kyle and I are so excited to have an official date but it is so weird to think that a week from now she will be here with us. How exciting! At first I was hesitant on the whole induction thinking that since it is before the technical due date. I just felt like I was being a bad mom, like I should just stick it out another week but I would rather her come now than to keep getting bigger inside of me and have further complications. So there we have it....officially parents in a week!

Labor Day weekend and 37 Weeks

Kyle and I had a great Labor day weekend. We were so excited to just hang out and watch football together. Saturday we made chili and creme brulee. I know this sounds like a crazy combination but the chili was a must because of football and the creme brulee was something we have been wanting to make for awhile and we figure we better do it now. Then of course we watched every football game that was on for the rest of the day....and rest of the weekend(Some I paid more attention to than others). The rest of the weekend we just got some errands taken care of and did a few house chores. I had a little burst of energy this weekend to get things done but Monday was much needed for sleep. It was so nice to have Monday off. This morning I went to the doctor. We finally have progress! I am 2 cm dilated and 50% effaced. It is so nice to no that something is going on. The doctor thinks the baby is somewhere around 6-7 lbs. Other than just feeling a little sick these last few days and of course being tired things are going really well. I am so thankful that things have gone so well. I cannot wait to meet our little girl and see what she looks like. I have been imagining it much more lately and I have to say it is making me much more anxious. I have been developing this picture in my head but of course that has no bearing on what she will look like. Will she have my red straight hair or Kyle's brown curly hair or a mixture of the two? I personally am hoping for red curly hair! I guess we will find out soon enough!