Vacay

We left on the 24th for a 5 day road trip to visit M's grandparents (C & K's great grands).  He is lucky enough to still have 3 of 4 alive (I don't have any).  We did about 1000 miles of driving during the five days and I'm shocked at how well both kids did.  C slept every moment the car was in motion and K was entertained by episodes of "Little Bear" on the ipad.  She also got pretty good at napping in the car.  It didn't look all that comfortable so I'm pretty impressed.  Both kids slept great over nights allowing us 6-8 hours a night in one shot.  We did some fun things too.  I'll put some pics in here, there are always the best way to tell about a trip =)

Giant bugs bunny in Casper

K sleeping in the car

C sleeping in the car

Me in front of Spearfish Creek - it goes right in front of his Grandma's house

With GG Katie (90)

One of the MANY bears at Bear Country USA - it's a drive through park where they come right up to your car

Mt Rushmore - we just saw it from the road and didn't spend the $20 or hour of walking time to go see it closer

One of K's favorite things from the trip, she loved riding this little horse

Feeding the fish (fish hatchery) and of course the opportunistic ducks

 The other set of Great Grands (Grandpa is 91 and Grandma is 89) and also M's aunt

Each day of driving we stopped for lunch and then found a place for Kylie to play while I nursed - sometimes it was a McDonald's play area due to weather (or lack of other options) but this day we found a nice park.  The squirrel she's on is part of a merry go round and she loved it.

On a side note C is still growing so quickly.  He will be 11 weeks old on Tuesday and is 16.5lbs (99th%) and 24.25"(78th%).  I'm afraid I'll be packing up the 3-6 month clothes soon and getting out the 6-9 month clothes...before he's even 3 months old.  Sheesh!

I have one week of maternity leave left...I hope it goes slow!!!

Mr. Amazing

It's hard to believe but C is two months old today!  We just got back from his doctors appointment where the poor guy got 3 shots and an oral vaccine.  He's recovering from the experience with a nap right now.  Hopefully he doesn't get his sisters reactions of high fevers *fingers crossed".

He's growing very well:

Height - 23.5" (68%)

Weight - 15 lb (96%) HOLY MOLEY!!!

Head - 15.875" (58.5%)

I have been reintroducing dairy into my diet and he's been doing ok with it.  So the doctor gave us the green light on continuing to add more dairy to my diet slowly and see how it goes.  That makes our life much easier  (can at families without having them check all the ingredients and can go out to eat) and we are relieved.  

The doctor doesn't have any concerns at all about his growth and development and we are so thankful for that! Here's a picture of the b-day boy =)

Bad blogger!

Sorry I have been MIA.  Things with the kids are great.  My days melt away somehow and I haven't found much time for blogging.  It's kind of nice to unplug a bit.  I've been on a mission to organize, donate, re-home, etc. lots of clothes. In additions to C's newborn and 0-3 month clothes K has fully outgrown 2T and now even some 3T.  And finally I needed to get all the maternity stuff out of my closet and drawers.  That project is now complete after a trip to donate some things yesterday...thank goodness.  I'll move on to the toy mess next.

I'll update next week with C's two month appointment and our plans for our first family of 4 road trip!  Hard to believe I'm headed back to work in a little over 3 weeks =(

Six Weeks

Note: I noticed that I have the same amount of traffic as normal on my posts but not many comments.  A blog friend of mine posted that she was having trouble posting comments. If you could do me a favor and post a comment so I can see if there are posting issues I need to track down that would rock. TIA!

C turned six weeks old today!  He is getting huge...13.27 lb (96th %) and 23" (78th %) and doing great.  He's had two nights this week with a six hour stretch of sleep.  How lucky are we?!  Hopefully he keeps going in that direction.  He is focusing on more objects and interacting more all the time.  Last night he had his first bottle and did great.  We want him to be a pro before he starts daycare.  When he's awake he wants to be on the move, usually while being held.  He LOVES to be worn.  Overall he's a very sweet, snugly little guy!

I had my six week post op appointment today and my hematocrit is back up to 38.  I'm happy since I now get to stop taking the iron pills that mess with my system.  I'm down another 4lbs from my last appointment so it looks like I have another 8 lbs to get to my pre-preggo weight.  My energy is back and I've been taking daily walks and am starting to work out again so hopefully that helps.  I don't go back to work for another six weeks =)

K is still doing great with her baby brother.  Her field trips are coming to an end this week and pre-school starts again next week.  For all the stress and worry I had about her field trips it turns out she loved them, particularly the ones that worried me the most (amusement parks, pools, etc).  Figures ;-)  Here's a pic of us last week:

One Month!

The big guy is up to 11.22 lbs at one month old, that's the 87th percentile!  He's 21.5" which is average (49th percentile).  So I'd say he is eating well =)  Doesn't he look huge already?

We tried to reintroduce dairy this week and it's a no go unfortunately.  It made for some tough nights with lots of belly pain =( So I'll be staying away from dairy and soy for another month and then might try it again.  We'll see.

Updates

C is going to be 4 weeks old tomorrow, crazy how time flies!  He is doing great and is such a sweet, easy going baby.  He only cries when it's time to eat (he loves his vittles) or during witching hour in the evening.  Compared to K who cried for HOURS every day this seems so much easier *knock on wood*  If we go to bed around 10:30 he only wakes once (around 3) to eat and then gets up at 6:30-7.  I hope that continues!  M started back to work today so it's just C and I at home now.  This week I'll be trying to reintroduce dairy into my diet to see if he's tolerant of it (please, oh please) and we'll also be starting one bottle feeding a day so he's very use to it by the time he starts daycare 8 weeks from today.  

K loves her little brother, thank goodness.  She hasn't been too jealous or anything and still wants to give him hugs and kisses anytime she can.  We had a scare last weekend when she got a high fever (103.8) but it went away within 24 hours and the rest of the house stayed healthy.

My energy is coming back.  I've been off the pain killers for a little over a week and am just taking ibuprofen a few times a day.  I still can't lay on my left side because it feels like something inside is being pulled (ICK) when I do.  I can tell everything inside me is still settling back into it's normal space.  The bleeding is still around but I'm hoping that's coming to an end.  I've lost 22 lbs of the 32 I gained so only 10 lbs left to go.  So happy to say goodbye to all the swelling!

K&C enjoying some sibling time

K nursing her baby while I nurse C

The little man

Yesterday - isn't he getting big?!

Newborn Pictures & Doctors Appointments

A friend of mine came over to take a few pictures of C last week.  I wanted to get some of those adorable sleepy newborn pictures but despite my attempts at putting him into a milk coma before she arrived he was pretty wide awake.  Some of them still turned out really cute =)

His first checkup was last Friday, at 10 days old, and he has gained the weight he lost initially plus 3 ounces.  He weighs in at a good 8.05 lb which is 37th percentile.  His height is 21.75" (61st %) and head circumference is 14.75" (59th %).  The doctor has no concerns what so ever and says he looks perfect.  The next appointment we'll have is at 2 months.   He's waking up twice at night and sleeping 2.5 to 3.5 hours in a shot.  Wake periods are getting longer and he's up for a couple 2-3 hour periods each day.  I don't feel as exhausted as I remember being with K at this point but maybe I just knew what to expect this time around.

I had my first pre-op appointment yesterday and my iron levels are going up.  They want it above 36 and I'm currently at 30 but that's up from 26 last week when I got checked out of the hospital.  Each day I'm feeling a little better and I hope in another week or two the drama of both surgeries is just a distant memory.