Christmas 2011

We started celebrating Christmas a little early this year. Since Sarah and Brandon left on December 20th, we had Christmas here with my family on December 17th. We had good food, opened lots of great presents and met up with Raven and Jeremy for a movie afterwards. Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows is a MUST SEE. After the movie, we all went by the Browns for a game night. We introduced Mafia to my family and they LOVED it. Good times. Amazing people. :)

On Christmas Eve, my dad joined us (and my mom/Brittany) for dinner. Jon made an amazing roast. I'm so jealous of his skills in the kitchen. Someday I'll be able to cook like him! Then the girls opened presents from my dad. Kennedy is one blessed little girl, let me tell you!

Christmas day, we all headed over to Chris and Rebecca's to celebrate with the Schultz side. We got to see their beautiful home and enjoyed each other's company. We laughed the whole time and girls were spoiled with more great gifts! I'm really looking forward to our Schultz Family Trip to the Dells in January!!

Today? Well we decided to sit back and enjoy each other. We played a lot of Kennedy's new board games multiple times and laughed A LOT. I love our little family. We had such an amazing Christmas with our family and friends. I know I say it all the time, but we are so blessed!!!!

Dream

I have been praying that I would have a dream about my grandma since she passed away March 15, 2010. It might seem weird, but I want to 'see' her one last time. Well early this morning I finally had that dream!!!!

My friend and I were in Hallmark together (fitting, since she used to work at Hallmark) looking at something in the front of the store. My grandma suddenly came up on the side of us to look at something. I spotted her short pixie hair and realized it was her immediately! I frantically started hugging and kissing her!!! I kept saying, "Is this real?! Is this a dream?! I hope this is real!!! I love you so much!!" She just kept smiling. But the strange part... I don't remember her speaking in my dream. She eventually just sort of disappeared.

I got what felt like, two minutes with her, but all I did was rejoice and love all over her the entire time. I've been REALLY missing her the last few days. The holidays just aren't the same without her. :'(

I'm excited to reunite with her in heaven... and I can imagine I'll be feeling somewhat like I did in my dream :')

Complete Opposites

Kennedy and Presley are already turning out to be complete opposites in many ways. Kennedy puked after each meal... and I'm not talking spit up. It was straight up smelly vomit. Presley never spits up/pukes. Kennedy never put anything in her mouth. Presley puts EVERYTHING she touches in her mouth. Kennedy scowled at people who weren't familiar. Presley welcomes strangers with a big smile. Kennedy went down for bed every night without a peep. Presley fights her sleep to the death.

Presley fighting her sleep is really starting to get old. Jon and I take turns every night popping her nuk back in her mouth. She wants it in, but her hands keep taking it out. I also noticed how often she tosses and turns when she goes down. Whether I rock her into a deep sleep or just put her down awake, she fights it! If anyone knows me at all, they know I'm not very welcoming of change. This is hard for me! I feel like I've done it all, but she still seems to have a hard time at night. Naps are completely fine. I don't even rock her and she crashes on her own. Presley is an easy baby who is happy 90% of the time. But that other 10% is a girl who is super high maintenance. I have no idea where that came from..... ;)

How do I fix this?! Or is it just a phase that will pass? Help!! :)

Catching Up

I feel like I'm always catching up on here. I really need to be a more disciplined blogger!

SO! Presley is over four months old now and is such a happy baby. She's been rolling over since two months old, sleeping through the night at three months, and likes to put her hands (and everything else) in her mouth. Kennedy wasn't like this at all and being the germaphobe that I am, it drives me INSANE. I spend most of my day gently pulling her hands away from her mouth... but apparently she doesn't get it! ;) I'm resorted to think she's teething because drool and insatiable gnawing seem to come with the territory. Kennedy didn't pop her first tooth until nine months old and I never detected any signs of teething. This little girl is very different already. I hope to see a tooth soon, so all of this craziness is worth something!

Kennedy is four-and-a-half going on 14. She's unbelievably smart... not only academically, but socially too. She's been able to detect Jon's sarcasm for a long time now, and isn't afraid to return the favor. She keeps us constantly laughing. There are times when her attitude is all in good fun, but can also verge on the side of sassy too. I have to be quick to correct her. Mama don't raise no sass mouth. ;) Other than her hilarious sense of humor, she has the biggest heart I've ever seen. She is so loving and continues to be the best thing in Presley's life. That baby is captivated by Kennedy. She knows just how to make Presley laugh and LOVES being her big sister. I'm so proud of her. She is turning out to be a really amazing kid.

Thanksgiving came and went in a flash. We hosted my side of the family again. My Dad, Aunt Susie, Aunt Mary, and cousin, Ashley, joined us too. There's never a dull moment when we all get together. It was a lot of fun!

We celebrated Christmas early this year because Sarah and Brandon had to leave right before the holidays. Their first stop was Virginia to spend some time with his side of the family. And then on January 2nd, they're off to Japan for the next three years. They were living upstairs with my mom and Brittany for three weeks leading up to their departure, and I'm so glad they had it worked out that way. We saw them every day, sometimes multiple times, and enjoyed every minute of it. Except when Sarah and I got into few arguments... but isn't that what sisters are for?! They left a few days ago for good. I know I'll see her this summer, but saying goodbye to her was the hardest thing I've ever had to do. We've never lived far from each other, so this is going to be quite an adjustment. I'm not worried about her at all though... Brandon takes very good care of her. I'm just sad I won't have my sister close by anymore. :(

Alright, enough of the tears... God allows everything to happen for a reason. I just need to suck it up now! ;)

Merry Christmas everyone!!

Family Pictures!

November 5, 2011

Moving Right Along...

I can't believe how bad I've become at blogging! Things have certainly changed around here. We now have a THREE MONTH old (tomorrow) and she is changing every single day. About three weeks ago, I decided to make a few changes to Presley's routine...

ONE: I hated co-sleeping with her. I don't disagree with people doing it, but I personally didn't care for it. I allowed for it to happen because I knew it was the only way to keep Presley sleeping (and to keep Mommy sane). NOW she sleeps on her own at night. She still wakes up once, but sometimes sleeps through the night too!

TWO: I eliminated the swing. I used to get 3-4 hour naps out of her in that thing. I knew from past experience that I needed to break the habit quick. So I brought it downstairs to the basement and pretended like I never owned one. I'm happy to report we both adjusted well. :)

She's growing so fast! At her 2.5 month check, she weighed 11lbs 2oz and was 23in long. She's starting to take longer naps and sleep a little longer at night as well. Also, I'm very thankful her tummy issues are gone. Rarely will she cry because of a stomach ache and praise the Lord for that. I felt terrible seeing her cry in pain!

Kennedy is doing AMAZING in school. Each day she grows more and more. I love hearing the teachers (on multiple occasions) tell me how kind and caring she is to the other students. Looks like we aren't doing half bad at this parenting thing! ;) Kennedy is still an amazing big sister too! She loves all over Presley and I enjoy seeing them play together. It's heartwarming watching Kennedy read to her and call her, "Little Sweetie". I LOVE being a mommy to these two girls!!

Life.Is.Good.

Bottle Time

I'll admit, I've been worrying in anticipation of returning to work and breastfeeding at the same time. How would I possibly pump enough supply for the times I'd be working? I thought it may be easier to give up and resort to the organic formula we made for Kennedy, but quickly realized that would just be plain STUPID. Breastfeeding has been PERFECT from the moment she was born. It's the best thing for her and it's free too! ...why would I want to stop that?! A few friends encouraged me to keep going as well. I didn't REALLY consider stopping, but the thought certainly crossed my mind. Then yesterday, after talking with a few co-workers, I knew I needed to introduce the bottle now so she can get used to it before I go back to work in October. Well... she did AWESOME!!! At first she just chewed the nipple and looked at me like I was nuts. After about a minute and a half, she sucked on it and realized she was getting something out of this foreign object. She finished 2oz quickly. I burped her and returned with another 2oz ten minutes later. She literally gagged on it. What was different?? I noticed this bag of milk was much more yellow in color and was from the very first time I pumped. Maybe it tasted different because it had the remnants of colostrum in it? Either way, I wasn't discouraged. Today, I fed her a second bottle. It was almost 5oz. I pump this much every time and figured this must be what she eats, right? Wrong. She ate close to 4oz and the rest went down the drain. WASTED LIQUID GOLD! At least it can be replaced at no cost. ;) From now on, she'll be getting at least one bottle each day so she doesn't forget.

HUGE victory for me... and Presley. It's time to start praying the rest of my worries away! Now we just have to conquer going down for bed/nap on her own and self-soothing with a pacifier. Stay tuned.