6 months?!?! Where did the time go?

Well, we've managed to keep Kaylee alive for 6 months now.  And we are on a steady march towards her first birthday.  Scary!

Kaylee's eczema is clearing up nicely.  Between the lotion, cod liver oil, peplic, probiotics, and organic formula, she is not too itchy at all!  And she doesn't have scaly, blotchy patches.  Yay!  We liked the naturopath so much that we actually switched over to them.  It is so much more relaxed and I feel like the doctor actually has time to listen to me.  Dr. Anna does everything - measuring, weighing, vaccinations, etc.  So she actually spends the whole appointment with us.  And I feel like it gels better with my philosophies as well.

First bite of solid foods!

We've starting Kaylee on solids.  I went to a baby food making party with the other moms I hang out with.  Each of us brought a fruit/vegetable and we steamed them and pureed them.  Then we divided up the goods and we are now well stocked.  Kaylee's tried spinach, pears, apples, sweet potatoes and carrots.  Sweet Potatoes were by far the favorite, with pears a close second. 

Spinach!

Kaylee also got to participate in a early childhood cognitive study at the UW.  She wasn't that excited about it, but she did like she got to pick out a toy!  She was in a pretty bad mood that day, but the UW people didn't seem to mind.



Kaylee is continuing her baby yoga, and I've added a "mom and me" yoga class.  Yoga for me, but Kaylee comes along.  We'll see how this goes....haha!  I've also been adding swimming into my schedule.  It is had to find the time and still have enough time to homework, but I continue to try to balance everything.  Some days I feel like I am going 100 miles per hour. 

5 Months! Whew.

Hi!

Wow - it has been a very busy month!  Not only did I have finals at the beginning of December but then we got hit by the Christmas freight train.  It was awesome, fun and exhausting.  I never thought I would say I am kind of happy to be back to our school/work schedule.  :) 

My first full quarter went really well - I managed to pull out all A's.  Yay me!  I just started up my second quarter with Intermediate Algebra, Anthropology of American Life and Data Mining.  I am taking all online classes, which I think will work out well for me.  I like having the ability to work at my own pace and not deal with annoying people. I tend to get antsy in class. I just hope I can "self learn" the math ok.

Lance is also starting up school again.  He is taking one night class.  It could get interesting between the both of us trying to do homework while entertaining the little one.  But I am very thankful and lucky to have the help I do with my mom and Lance's mom watching Kaylee during the day so I hope I can do most of my homework during the day. 

Here doggy doggy!

Kaylee is so much fun right now.  She is becoming really aware of her surroundings.  She just noticed the cat and dog and will watch them from across the room and reach for them.  Lucky animals - haha!  She is also VERY aware of where Mommy is at all times.  But my favorite thing is how much she smiles at us.  She just looks so very happy to be our baby.  This is really nice because when she is 14 she will probably be telling us how much she hates us and how we are ruining her life! 

Indigo getting kisses from her baby cousin

Christmas was so much fun.  Lance's dad, stepmom, sister, brother in law and niece all came into town the week before Christmas.  It was the first time since our wedding we were all together and the first time ever that the babies were together.  Our niece, Indigo, is one year older than Kaylee to the day!  It was fun to see Lance's parents get to meet their granddaughters for the first time.  And for once Kaylee was not the center of attention! 

Christmas was split between Lance's mom and my family and was a whirlwind three days.  But Kaylee was appropriately spoiled, so she didn't mind. 

Evidence of Kaylee's spoilage

So begins a New Year!  Considering how much happened over the past year (Europe, house remodel, baby, lay offs, going back to school) I am excited to see what 2011 brings.  I'm not big on resolutions, but I do have some goals in mind.  Two simple ones in fact.  One is to spend 30 minutes a day picking up the house.  I really believe if I do this then I will less stressed out about the house being messy.  And 30 minutes is much more achievable then letting stuff pile up and then freak out and have to spend 2 hours cleaning.  The second one is to add in yoga and swimming to my days.  I would like to do some kind of activity 3 days a week.  Not just to lose baby weight (although a much needed bonus) but also just to feel stronger.  Pregnancy really weakened by body and I am ready to reclaim it.  Wish me luck!

4 months old!

Where has the time gone? Our little baby is not longer a newborn!  Although I have to say I am enjoying this stage so much more than the newborn stage.  It is so much fun to see her interacting with her environment and learning to play with toys.  Plus it makes her easier to distract, which means she is a happier baby!  Yay for that! 

Kaylee recently had her 4 month check up.  She weighs 13.5 lbs (50th percentile) and is 25 inches long (75-90th percentile).  She did really well getting her vaccinations, but definitely felt the effects later on.  A little crabby and unhappy. 


Our first Thanksgiving was a lot of fun - my parents joined Lance's family for dinner.  I was so happy to have everyone in the same place.  No decisions or splitting up our time.  We let Kaylee try some gravy, mashed potatoes and pumpkin pie.  She really wasn't too sure about any of it!  Here are some links to the videos:

Kaylee Tries Pie
Kaylee Tries Mashed Potatoes/Gravy

(I promise there will won't be hundreds of these as Kaylee has her first rice cereal/fruit/vegetable/couscous/pizza.  Or at least that's what I promised my cousin.  HAHA)

We're finally finishing up the house projects in an effort to look like we live like adults and not college students.  We have acquired some new bookcases/furniture and are in the process of decluttering.  We're also FINALLY finishing off the bathroom from our remodel in March.  Ha!  Pictures to come once we finish up.  We'll have some nice "before and after" shots for the bathroom.

Kaylee's First Snow. 

We're looking forward December - so much fun stuff planned!  Lance's dad and stepmom, sister, brother in law and niece are all arriving Dec. 18th.  The grandparents are meeting their granddaughters for the first time and everyone is meeting Kaylee!  We are also really looking forward to decorating for Kaylee's first Christmas.  I tried not to go overboard with presents, but it is hard! 

Kaylee's First Halloween

Halloween Party at our friend's house in Bellingham.  Kaylee was great - she slept the whole way there and back and we managed to put her down to sleep at Niki's house too!  Success!  Kaylee had fun checking out all the different looks and meeting a baby Yoda!

 Kaylee wishing everyone a Happy Halloween!!

Dress up day at Baby Yoga!

 Dress up day at Baby class!

Kaylee at her first pumpkin patch.  She wasn't too interested and the sun was bright.  But we enjoyed it!!

Our little pumpkin!

Daddy had fun posing her with pumpkins.  Lucky baby!

Halloween is sure is fun, but so exhausting!

3 months old already!

These fingers are delicious!

Well, Kaylee is no longer a newborn.  She's so grown up - sniff!  And she has been growing and learning a lot of new things.  She can grasp toys, see herself in a mirror, track objects, smile, coo, sleep in her bassinet, hold her bottle (sometimes) and enjoy simple books. 

She has also been enjoying her baby yoga.  We just completed our first series on last Tuesday, but have already signed up for another session!  Kaylee got a little certificate for completing her yoga class series that says "Kaylee and her mom, Shannon, started practicing Itsy Bitsy Yoga when she was 7 weeks old". How cute is that?

Kaylee has also graduated from the 0-3 month old parent/baby class we attend at Evergreen Hospital.  We are now in the 3-6 month class!  We've met a lot of other moms and usually hang out once a week.  Kaylee will have a lot of little friends!

School has been going well for me...it is so interesting being back in school 7 years after completing my schooling at the UW.  My perspective is completely different and maturity definitely changes things.  But I am really enjoying it and doing well!  Whew!

Lance has been really busy with work and being a great dad.  He is so great with Kaylee and very helpful with her.  I couldn't ask for a better husband!

2 Months Old!!

So hard to believe our little baby is 2 months old now!  We just had our 2 month doctor appointment and after a slow start to gaining weight, we are happy to say she is now 10 lbs 4 oz!  That is about a 3 1/2 pound weight gain in a month.  Good job baby!  She is now 22.5 inches long.  So her height and head circumference is in the 50-75% percentile and her weight is in the 25-50% percentile.  The doctor says she will be well portioned.  Its all we can ask, really. :)  The doctor also confirmed that we were correct in bragging how well Kaylee holds her head up.  She is such a strong little thing.  She definitely did not get that from Mommy!!

I've started school and managed to make it through the first two weeks relatively unscathed. So far it hasn't been too bad, but I definitely have to stay on top of my homework since Kaylee doesn't let me get a lot done during the day.  My classes for this quarter are: Network Basics, Database Theory and Intermediate Algebra.  Woo!  :)  It is pretty awesome to be taking a math class I did in 8th grade, but I kind of enjoying it.  Math and I are working on being friends after a rough beginning.  While I am at school, Kaylee gets to hang out with her grandmas...I think all parties are enjoying the arrangement. 

Kaylee also started "Itsy Bitsy Baby Yoga".  She seems to really enjoy it...we do little baby yoga poses and sing songs.  After yoga, we go to our baby/parent class and hang out with other moms and their 0-3 month old babies.  We get to talk about our concerns and find out what is working for other moms.  Kaylee...tolerates this class.  We have also been getting together for coffee with some of the moms from the classes.  That has been a lot of fun as well.  It gets me out of the house, which is awesome.

Kaylee is really starting to come out of her shell.  She is smiling now.  It isn't really often, but a few times a day at least.  She is cooing too, which is so funny and cute!  Every day she becomes more and more aware of her surroundings.  And I am so excited for that!  I want to play with all these toys with her and have her react to them. 

Daddy teaches Kaylee about computers

Hi Mommy!  I'm 2 months old today!

I'm not sure how I feel about this Bumbo chair

Hi Everyone!!

6 Weeks!!

Hello!  Welcome to my update!

Well, we have certainly had an eventful 5 weeks since our last post!  We have attended 4 birthday parties, one family get together, a wedding, and met lots and lots of people.  We had our second doctor appointment, got our second vaccination, got babysat several times, and had our first bottle.  We also went on our first vacation and Daddy went back to work!  Can you blame Mommy for being exhausted??  I am definitely ready for a slow down.  There is nothing like having a baby to make you realize how busy your life is! 

I don't know about this...

Our biggest issue came when we went to the one month doctor appointment.   We found out that Kaylee was not gaining weight.  She was born 7 lbs 2 oz, went down to 6 lbs 8 oz four days later, went back up to 6 lbs 13 oz one week later and was on track to gain weight correctly.  However, when we went in for our appointment she was only 6 lbs 15 oz.  She should have gained about a pound and a half.  So we had to supplement her with formula because I couldn't produce enough to supplement her with my milk.  And we had to visit the lactation consultants a couple times to make sure she was feeding correctly and to help increase my supply.  The good news is she is back on track!  She was 8lbs 5oz as of the 6th!  It is amazing how quickly they can pack on the pounds.  And she is a MUCH happier baby...not nearly as fussy!  So good news all around.  Right now we are continuing a combination of formula and breastmilk.  And it is working well so we will likely continue unless or until I can pump enough to take her off the formula.  But it is also possible that won't happen, so I'm not spending any time feeling guilty or worrying about it.  It is what it is!

My First Ferry Ride...I'm super thrilled, can't you tell?

The next big adventure was a trip to Lopez Island with my parents.  A little background for those who don't know:  my family owns a couple of cabins right on the beach on Hunter Bay.  They have been in the family for a LONG time...I can't remember the exact amount, at least since the Depression when it was owned by my great great aunt.  My mom took me to Lopez for the first time when I was 6 weeks old and so I really wanted to take Kaylee this summer as well.  She is now the 5th generation to enjoy Lopez! It was a really great trip.  The weather was really nice and I was so ready for a getaway.  No house to clean, or places to go!   Just the family.  I felt like I finally got a chance to enjoy my baby instead of just taking care of her. 

Lopez is great Dad!

So now it is September and summer is over...Lance has headed back to work this week.  We've only had two days by ourselves, so we'll see how it goes!  I start school in two weeks and that is when things will get really interesting.  :)  But I am excited to start.  Also, Kaylee and I are attending baby/parent support classes and will start Itsy Bitsy Baby Yoga in a couple weeks as well!  I'm more excited than she is, but of course about the only thing that excites her now is food!  HAHA!