Kara-isms

Kara was getting frustrated this morning, so she told me, "mom, I don't believe it." I asked her what she didn't believe, and she said, "my life."

Later, I was fixing her some yogurt, so she said, "mom, what is that? It sounds like a kitty cat treat. Yuck!"

Whenever I tell Jessalyn to say "hi," Kara tells me, "mom, she's too small. She can't talk." Thanks for telling me, goofy girl!

She definitely comes up with some kooky ideas!

Where Babies Come From

Kara has been fascinated with where babies come from lately. She is convinced that you can go to the doctor and get a baby. This is a conversation we had this morning on our way to a doctor's appointment:

"Mommy, you got Jessalyn from the doctor. Are we going to get another Jessalyn?"

Me: "No honey. Jessalyn was in mommy's tummy. Mommy went to the hospital and the doctors helped get Jessalyn out of mommy's tummy. Mommies go to the doctor so their babies can be born."

Kara: "oh. When I was a mommy, my dolly came out of my tummy! That's the rule! Babies have to go to the doctor all the time!"

Sadly, Kara has a very skewed idea of how often people have to go to the doctor. Between me and Jessalyn, poor Kara has been to the doctor probably between 12-15 times these last 4 months! So in her world, it makes sense that she thinks babies have to go to the doctor all the time.

And she still doesn't believe me that you can't just go to the hospital and get a baby. I wish it was that easy!

Growing Girl!

When we brought Jessalyn home at 2 weeks, she was the size of a flip flop and just barely over 4 lbs.

Today, she's 4 months old, I'm guessing about 9.5-10 lbs, and almost triple the size of the flip flop! Plus, she does all kinds of fun things like coo and laugh and smile. Oh, that dimple when she smiles! It tickles me pink!

She still doesn't push up when she's on her tummy, and she isn't anywhere close to rolling over. Her head is still unsteady too. In some areas (like social) she is starting to catch up a little, but I think physically, she's still behind. She is doing so great though, and her personality is really starting to come through! She's a total Mama's girl, but she has loads of smiles and love for Daddy too. And she's crazy about my brother. They do this face at each other that is just hilarious!

As usual, I just love, love, love my baby. I feel so blessed to get to have these two little girls in my life.

Kara-isms

Kara is very observant and makes connections between things constantly. Last night, she very excitedly (and out of the blue) shouted, "mom! One hundred thousand and eight! That spells money!"

Almost, kiddo!

Differences

It is so fun to see how different my girls are from each other, yet also see their similarities.

Kara has always been a social butterfly pretty much since the day she was born. She was ready to do things like eat real food way before she was supposed to (by 4 months, she was trying to grab things off the table when we would eat dinner). She has just always wanted to be a "big girl," and I swear she is 2 going on 20. She's got spunk (and a little attitude too, but I guess she was destined to with me as her mom).

Jessalyn has a more quiet personality. I'm not even sure that quiet is the right word, but I can't think of a better one. She definitely cries more than Kara, but when she isn't crying, she is very happy just to be laying or sitting in the bouncy seat and watching the people around her. She has been smiling and interacting a lot more lately (she hates it if she thinks she was left in a room), but she doesn't "talk" as much as Kara did. I bet she's going to be very calculated with her words when she does start talking! She also hates her car seat, which doesn't make for fun car rides, but I'd probably hate being crammed in that thing too. Who can blame her? She's also a few pounds smaller than Kara was, but she just had a growth spurt, so I'm guessing she's between 8.5 and 9 pounds now.

Both my girls are very sweet, and I love that they both got the squishy cheeks! And I'm glad they both had hair, but Jessalyn has quite a bit less than Kara did, and she is rocking an enormous bald spot on the back of her head, haha.

Both these girls challenge me in different ways, but they reward and enrich my life 100 times over! The longer I am a mom, the more I realize I have no idea what I'm doing, and nine times out of ten, Kara is the one to teach ME a lesson. Thankfully, kids are resilient, so even though they're stuck with me, I think they'll be ok :)

Sleeping

How could anybody sleep like this? She does this all the time!

Happy Girls

We had a really great Thanksgiving with my family this year. And I think my girls looked especially cute!

Just a Picture

How cute is this baby?? I could just squeeze her all the time!

Too Fast

I am in shock over how fast Kara is growing. She turned in to a big girl over night! Every day, she does new things that I am amazed by. Lately, she has been noticing that a bunch of letters together make words. Even though she doesn't recognize all of her letters by sight yet, she will point out a word to me and ask, "mommy, what does that say?"

I read to her a lot, so it also shouldn't surprise me when I catch her "reading" her books to her dolls and stuffed animals. I will often walk in on her with her toys set up around her and listen to her telling them a story about the pictures in her books. Some of the stories she has memorized, so she does a pretty good job of re-telling them, but some of the stories she just makes up out of her imagination, and it is just so darn cute!

She also wants to do everything just like me. If I am doing "pat-a-cake" with Jessalyn, Kara gets her dolly or her Lorax stuffed animal and does the same thing. If I have Jessalyn standing in my lap, Kara is doing the same thing with her toys. I have caught her telling her dolly in a sing song voice, "look at you! You're so big!" It really reminds me how much she's watching me and that I need to be a good role model!

I just love my little Kare Bear!

Silly Girl

Kara is inquisitive and ALWAYS busy. This is what she did with her crayons this morning when we asked her to put her crayons away:

My 3 Month Old Munchkin

We had a 3 month check up today. Jessalyn weighs 7lbs 13oz! She is actually growing a little slower than she should be, but it could just be do to the fact that she was IUGR. Developmentally, the doctor feels like she's about where she should be for her size and gestational age. The weight issue still concerns the doctor, but overall, Jessalyn is healthy, (sometimes) happy, and just as much a doll as ever! I say (sometimes) happy because boy, does this girl like to cry! She is just such a fuss budget, but somehow, I still think she's just as adorable as ever.

It's so striking to me the differences in my two girls--Kara was a very happy, very social, and very active little baby. Jessalyn is more quiet and observant, and she definitely lets us know when she's not happy about a situation. Their two little personalities are just amazing! I love, love, love both of my girls to pieces.

Halloween Craft

I have been trying to do fun activities with Kara to better direct her energy as part of "mommy preschool." We made this Halloween craft today, and as an added bonus, Kara wanted to make it for her Uncle Bry (whose birthday is today).

She did all the gluing with some direction from me. The skeleton is supposed to have five fingers on each hand, but Kara insisted that the skeleton was dancing and be doing "the grandpa dance," (dad, your dance moves will forever be memorialized!) so I helped make her wishes reality. We didn't do a half-bad job! This was definitely a fun and toddler-friendly activity to do together.

Still MIA

I have been really, really terrible about updating our blog. For various reasons, writing has just felt so overwhelming. I have sooooo much I want to write about! I'm hoping to get back in to a regular writing routing this week. I just need to whip myself in to shape and be normal again!

So for tonight, enjoy these pictures of "Little Bo Peep" and her "sheep." Kara was so thrilled after I finished their costumes!

Jessalyn at 2 Months

*Make sure you don't miss my other posts from today!

Today we had Jessalyn's 2 month check-up! She weighs 6lbs 15 oz, which I am thrilled about. There were a few things that the pediatrician and I have discussed off and on that the pediatrician is concerned about, so we have a couple more appointments with some specialists, but Jessalyn is growing and healthy. I couldn't really ask for more! Yesterday she smiled at me for the first time, and she smiled twice again during her appointment. It totally melted my heart!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For comparison, here is a picture of Jessalyn at 2 weeks (right), and a picture of her at 2 months(left)

 

 

 

Heading home from the doctor

What You Don't Know

What you don't know before you become a parent is all the worry that comes with the territory. I think that's the hardest part about being a mom--you're so vested in these little people and in giving them a good life and raising them well, there just seem like an endless amount of things to worry and fret over. It kind of gives you perspective about the important things in life.

I love these two little people. They are my whole world. Nothing compares to the way Kara runs at me and hugs me and tells me, "you're a good mommy!" or the way I can pick Jessalyn up when she's crying and she nestles her head in my shoulder. I am truly blessed.

A Little More About Jessalyn

We are all pretty enamored with Jessalyn. She's so cute, and Kara especially can't keep her hands off of her--she wants to be the best little helper!

We've had a few challenges though, too. When Jessalyn was born, we were told that she was IUGR, or "intra uterine growth restricted." She was smaller than other 36 week babies and had quit growing. She didn't even make it in to the percentile growth chart (now she's in the 3rd percentile for weight). I was told that having a baby born IUGR could present some potential challenges.

Fast forward to today--Jessalyn is doing great, but we have been concerned about a few things, and I'm constantly worried about her. She acts more like a 4 week old baby than an 8 week old baby, but that is to be expected for her gestational age. She has been doing this weird twitch thing though, and I originally thought she'd grow out of it, but it was getting worse, so I finally mentioned it to her pediatrician. The Dr. was worried it might be seizures, so we had an EEG done and were referred to a neurologist at the Children's Hospital down town. Good news is, it doesn't look like it is seizures (though not 100% ruled out, so we have another appointment in 3 months). Her EEG showed immature brain activity, which means her brain is a little immature, so she should *hopefully* grow out of the twitching as her brain matures. It was a little disconcerting to hear that she was "immature," but again, not anything unexpected and not necessarily bad news (most premature babies catch up by 2 years old).

The other thing going on with Jessalyn is her reflux issue. She has been having bad reflux and tummy issues, and will usually have a couple bouts during the day of just straight crying for an hour or more. She cries for the majority of her wakefulness, with the occasional break. She's especially bad at night, and she will only sleep for 30 minutes to an hour at a time before waking up and crying like she's in horrible pain. It is so heartbreaking, and exhausting, and I've cut just about everything out of my diet that I think is causing it, but no dice. We have a two month check up this Thursday, and the pediatrician is probably going to prescribe her some medicine to cut back on the acidity and gas. I bought a Moby wrap too, and that seems to help sometimes.

Don't read this and think we are all doom and gloom at home though! I am so happy to be a mom to both my girls, and Jessalyn is really a very, very sweet baby when she isn't gassy or spitting up. I am hopeful that we can get her reflux and tummy problems under control so she can be happier and we can all love on her without upsetting her tummy!

Grandmas

My grandmas are really cool. I know I've said that before, but really, they are awesome. My grandma and my great grandma always know how to make us feel loved!

A lot of the things we have from when Kara was a baby are either worn out (diaper bag, receiving blankets), or the wrong season (clothes). My grandma made me this beautiful Eric Carle Grouchy Lady bug bag to replace my old diaper bag,

Inside of my ladybug bag

It looks way prettier in person

and my great grandma made Jessalyn this stack of blankets and this adorable quilt. We got them in the mail today (plus Kara got a new pillow case), and it was like Christmas.

See what I mean? I have the best grandmas.

Girls

I love my girls so much. They make me wish I could have 10 more kids.

Right Now

Right now, my life consists of a never ending cycle of laundry, baths, feeding my children, bouncing the baby, and chasing after Kara. I'm basically a glorified maid/chef/food factory (I say glorified because I'm pretty sure regular maids/chefs/food factories don't get the benefits of kisses and hugs and laughter and snuggles from the people they cater to). I am loving it (except the laundry) yet feeling my brain go to mush as it is all becoming one long endless blur and I can no longer keep track of which day it is! I kept thinking yesterday was Saturday.

On another note, Kara is potty trained! After she finally decided to use the potty, it only took a couple days for her to start telling us on her own, and about two weeks to be accident free. My sister was a HUGE help. I'll write more about the whole process later (and it WAS a process!) I'm so glad to be rid of her diapers.

P.S
These pictures give a misleading idea that I never do Kara's hair. I do, in fact, do her hair every day... For some reason, I always take pictures of her in the morning before I actually do her hair. She really isn't a ragamuffin! Now, whether or not I do something other than a pony tail with MY hair is a totally different story.

Jessalyn 1 Month

Jessalyn is 6 weeks old tomorrow, and I realized I never updated her progress!

She is now 5 and a half pounds (5 lbs 4 oz last Thursday), which still puts her below 5th percentile, but she IS growing. Just this week, she started being awake and looking at people and objects, so I am relieved because I was getting a little worried. She has two appointments coming up with different departments to check a couple things but overall, she's doing great.

The only bad thing is this little munchkin is NOT a good sleeper at night. It is foreign territory for me, because around 5 or 6 weeks with Kara, pretty much all I had to do was put her down at night, and she'd sleep great! (As my grandma told me last night, that goes to show that oldest children really are the best. Haha! Ok, kidding, kidding). I think the biggest reason she won't sleep is because she is REALLY refluxy at night--bad enough that she chokes sometimes, and this morning, it came up her nose. I feel so bad for her! We've had her sleep in the swing for the last few nights to help her sleep upright and help her feel better.

Jessalyn is such a sweet baby. We all love her to pieces! Kara is constantly telling me "I love my baby sister," and has named her doll "baby Jessalyn." Our family wouldn't be the same without her!

Feeding the Horsies

Kara loves the pony and the horse at the ranch. She loves when they come up to her so she can feed them, so every time we go to the ranch, she anxiously asks if the horsies are going to come. This morning, we finished feeding the animals and the horses came up to us. Kara had a blast playing with them!

No Doubt About It

I think my girls are adorable.