Kaitlyn's First Day of Kindergarten

The first two weeks of kindergarten are in the books.  While I'm still in shock that she's old enough for school, I am not sad.  Kaitlyn absolutely loved preschool and was so excited to start kindergarten.  (I was almost as excited her.  School = routine)  I know that this will be a great year for her.  She loves to learn and has an amazing teacher who cares a lot for her students. (She called us the first day to let us know that Kaitlyn had a great day.  She even said that Kaitlyn reminds her of herself as a child.)  I am looking forward to watching Kaitlyn grow both academically and emotionally.

I thought it would be fun to ask Kaitlyn a few questions before and after her first day.

Before

What is the name of your school? Kellybrook 

What is your teacher's name? Ummm... What's her name again. (Mrs. Hubbard)
Are you excited? Yes and a little nervous.  

What are you looking forward to the most?  Riding the bus and for you to take me to school on my first day.  (Sadly, she only got to ride the bus for three days since our new house is no longer on a bus route.)

She wanted her nails painted blue.

Waiting in the gym on the first day.  All butterflies were gone.

Inside her classroom

After

Did you like it/ have fun?  I Love it!!! Can't wait to go back.  I liked preschool, but I LOVE kindergarten!

We're any of your friends from preschool in your class? Just one.  Caeden and Gunner are in a different class.  I don't know who their teacher is.

What was the best part? Ummm....there were too many things.  I loved riding the bus home today.  We had gym and library. 

Thank you Mrs. Hubbard for sending us this picture.

Jack David - 2 Months

I had this written and ready to post on the 18th, but it just never happened.  I knew it would be a CRAZY day, but I had no idea just how crazy it would be.   The movers showed up early (thank goodness) and my dad got there shortly after that and we sit didn't get everything out by our 5 pm deadlines.
Then we didn't have internet for a week.   It was scheduled to be hooked up on Saturday, the 19th, but the technician went to the neighbors house instead.  I called every day and every time I was told that someone would call me later in the day to get it rescheduled.  Never happened.  Spectrum really needs to work on their customer service.  Now that we finally have internet, I can post Jack's two month update.

Weight: 11 pounds, 15 ounces (25th percentile)

Length: 23 inches (53rd percentile)

Sleeping: I'd love to say that he was sleeping through the night (his sisters both did at 6 weeks), but he's not.  Jack still sleeps quite a bit during the day, so he doesn't usually go to bed until 10:30 or 11.  He then sleeps most of the morning, waking every 3-4 hours to eat.  The longest he's slept is 5 hours and that's only happened a handful of times.  I desperately need his bedtime to change now that David is back at work and can't stay up with him.
Also, we moved Jack to in his crib the night before david went back to work.  The first week in the crib was pretty rough.  He was waking up every two hours.  I think this had to do with the fact that he had never really slept laying flat.   We had him sleeping in a rock and play in our room at night.  It's been couple of weeks and he's back to waking up only once at night.  

Eating:  He's still exclusively breasfed.  He has successfully taken a bottle the few times that I have offered and a couple from Grandma and Papa.  During the day he eats about every 3-4 hours.  From 3-11, it's about every 2 hours and then back to every 3-5 hours over night.

Clothing: Mostly 0-3 months.  He can still wear a few newborn onesies, but not any sleepers.  Three month clothes are still a little big.

Diapers: Size 1

Milestones: Smiling (8/8), sleeping in his crib (8/9), cooing (8/11), first time being babysat by Grandma Kathy and Papa Dave (8/12), staying awake longer than an hour.

Eyes: They're turning brown.  They were a grayish blue at birth.

Hair:  His newborn hair is thinning and his new hair is starting to come in.  It looks like he has a residing hairline.  I think he will have brown hair like Kaitlyn.

Likes: Being held, his swing, eating.  He's starting to enjoy laying on his playmat.

Dislikes: Being hungry, tummy troubles, and spitting up. 

The Parents: We're (still) tired!!  This past month has been CRAZY!!  Between buying and selling houses, packing, moving, school starting (for David and Kaitlyn), and having a newborn who doesn't sleep through the night yet, we're not getting a whole of lot of sleep.  Hopefully, we'll be better next month once we establish our new normal.

Mama: I'm doing well, though I still haven't lost all of my weight.  I assumed that it would take longer this time, but really thought I'd be back to my pre prego size by now.  (I was wearing my normal clothes just a week after Kaitlyn was born and a month after Madi.). Now that the move is behind us, it's time to get serious about losing these last few pounds and inches.  Otherwise, I will not have any pants to wear.  (I borrowed some shorts from my mom, but I won't be able to do that with pants.)

The Sisters:  They are still obsessed with him.  They are constantly kissing or touching him and wondering where he is. We don't worry about them being alone with Jack as much.  They've learned to be gentler around him .

Five on Friday

Just a few random thoughts for this Friday.

One

 This was the fastest/shortest summer that I can remember.  Apparently, having a baby and moving within eight weeks can keep you extremely busy.  Here it is already the second weekend in August and the unofficial end of summer.  Unfortunately, we were only able to mark a few things off our summer bucket list.  Maybe we'll be able to squeeze a few more things before the fall.

Two
Today is the start of the last weekend in our first house.  The weekend will be filled with lots and lots of packing, cleaning and a couple last minute repairs to the house.

Three
It's also the last weekend before Kaitlyn starts kindergarten.  I'm planning on taking her to school that morning, but there won't be time for a special breakfast.  Instead the two of us (well three if you count Jack) are going to  have our special back to school breakfast on Sunday.  She has requested a pink donut from Lamars and eating it at HyVee.  We might even try to squeeze in little back to school shopping trip

Four

I've learned a couple things about moving.  A) we have a lot of crap and b) moving was much easier before having kids.  We're hiring moves, but we still had to pack it all.  This is the current state of our house.  Boxes EVERYWHERE!

Five 

 After a summer of absolutely no bedtime routine, I am excited to get back into our old routine (or as close as we can with an infant).  I need my time in the evening again.

This is why we need get back our bedtime routine.  Madi couldn't even make it through dinner.

Our First House

In just two short weeks, we will finish our chapter on North Wallace Ave and begin a new one on North Tullis Court.  While I'm really excited about our new house, there are a few things that I don't want forget about this house.  It holds so many memories and just thinking about them makes me tear up.  

This was our first house and our lives have changed so much since buying it almost six years ago.  This is where we became a family; where we brought all three of our babies home from hospital.  It's where David's movie career came to life.  And where I began my daycare business that has allowed me to stay home with my girls for the past three years.  We have celebrated so many things since moving here. First steps, first words, birthdays, holidays, first day of school, new jobs, new babies.  While I know that new memories and milestones will be made in our new home, right now I can't stop reminiscing about the past.  This has been a great first home, but we are ready to write the next chapter of our lives.

 Here are the MLS pictures of our current home.  It looks nothing like it did when we moved in. 

The fireplace was originally oak with cream ceramic tile.

The cabinets were too.

Jack David - 1 Month

Wow!  How has it been a month already?  Maybe it's because it's summer or maybe because we've been crazy busy with house stuff, but this has been one of the fastest months ever.  Jack is the perfect addition to our family and the timeliness of his arrival couldn't have been more perfect.  He allowed his sisters to attend the birthday party of one of their best friends and made Father's Day extra special Daddy and his Papa's.

Weight: I'm guessing that he's around 9 pounds.  He was 8 pounds, 4.6 ounces at his last check up (18 days new).

Sleeping: He usually takes two four hour naps and several smaller ones throughout the day.  Nighttime sleep depends on how much he sleeps during the day.  He typically will sleep 3-4 hours night.

Eating:  Jack is still nursing on demand.  Sometimes it's every two hours and sometimes it's four.  It's not uncommon from him to want to nurse every hour in the evening.

Clothing: Newborn, but probably not for long.  Several sleepers are already too small.

Diapers: Size 1 because we recently ran out of newborn.

Likes: Being held and nursing

Dislikes: Being hungry, tummy troubles, and spitting up.  We're dealing with pretty bad reflux just like we did with Madi.  He seems to be happier since starting medicine (ranitidine), but still spits up a lot.  Hopefully, it only lasts a few months.

The Parents: We're tired!  David is still off work and will be for three more weeks so he can catch up a little in the mornings.  Daycare started up when Jack was two weeks old.  I hired a teenager to help me for the next two weeks, but it still required me to get up .at 6am to make sure that everything was ready for the day.  Occasionally, I took a nap during those two weeks.  As of yesterday, I am officially on my own.  

Last week, I battled with a clogged milk duct. It was terrible.  That was the first (and hopefully the last) time I've ever had one.  I kept thinking that it was going to turn into mastitis.  I consider myself very lucky than I have never had an issue with this before.

The Sisters:  They are obsessed with him.  They are constantly giving him hugs and kisses, which look  more like they're trying to smother him.  They've made me wonder (more than once) how the third child survives their older siblings.  I'm proof that we do live through it.  Madi makes us a little nervous when she is around him.  We have to keep a close eye on her.  I'm sure we'll feel more comfortable about her being around him once he's a little less fragile.   All joking aside, they are great big sisters and are usually willing to help with Jack. 

5 days new

No matter how I put him down, I almost always find him on his side.

Because I love comparison photos: