6 months!

Well, we had our 6 month f/u appt yesterday. Baby Jordyn is doing great. Well, mostly. Her growth is right on track--16 lbs, 10 oz (70th percentile) and 26 inches long (60th percentile). However, she is still not sleeping for me. And she seems to have times when she just can't be consoled. Almost colic-like. So, we've tried EVERYTHING we could think of. Seriously. Nothing seems to matter. Our last-ditch effort was a trial of 2 days of just formula (thinking it was maybe something I was eating that was bothering her). One full bottle of formula = vomit 5 min later. Fluke?? Nursed her during the night = fine. 2nd full bottle of formula = vomit 5 min later. *Light bulb moment*....hmmmm, could this be a milk intolerance?? Discussed this with the pedi. After hearing our struggles, and finding a rash on Jordyn's back that she said looked like a food allergy rash, she suggested that I try a strict non-dairy diet. And she gave us a sample of non-dairy formula. We'll see. It can take up to 2 weeks to determine if this is helping. I'm definitely not looking forward to this (have you ever noticed that EVERYTHING has milk in it?!?!), but if it helps, I'm game!

Jordyn won't touch the formula. Can't say that I blame her. It smells absolutely awful! So yesterday, we mixed it with breast milk. I'm hoping to add more and more formula each time to get her used to it. However, my goal is to continue breast feeding through the winter months (cold/flu season).

I'm also worried that she is just using me as a pacifier during the night. I'm trying not to nurse her every time she wakes up, but sometimes that is all that works. I need to just let her cry, but 1) that breaks my heart and 2) her room is right next to Jacob's and I prefer to not wake him up and have to deal w/ 2 cranky kids at 3 in the morning. However, I do realize that if I don't nip this in the bud NOW, it's only gonna get worse. And no offense to any die-hard breastfeeding advocates out there, but I don't plan to be nursing if my daughter can come up and start unbuttoning my shirt. ....just a bit too creepy for my taste.

Anyway, despite the nighttime sleep struggles (oh wait, she won't nap much either, so that'd be nighttime AND daytime sleep struggles), she is perfect. I'm a walking zombie these days, but still awake enough to notice how stinkin' cute she is.......

Our first family hike....

I'm sooooo proud of our lil' man. He is such a big boy. At 3...almost 4 years old, he held his own on our weekend hike. We hiked a little over 3 miles of wooded, grassy, hilly trails and he kept up like a champ (and only complained a little....maybe even less than we did...of course, we were carrying 16 lbs of baby and a back pack w/ water, etc....LOL).

It was a GORGEOUS day and we couldn't stand being inside, so off we went. This trail is a conservation area about 18 miles from our home in Hartsburg. Once you get to the "top" of the trail, there is an overlook deck and the view is just amazing.

I'm so happy that Jacob enjoys being outside. I hope to enstill a love of nature and the outdoors over sitting in front of the idiot box all day. Seems like he's on the right track so far. Hopefully, he'll learn some good habits to teach his sister.

5 months

It's official...as of Labor Day, our lil' angel is 5th months old. I know I say it all the time, but I just cannot believe how fast time is going. As much as I long for uninterrupted sleep at night (and yes, I realize that a far off dream), I really wish I could slow down the clock. It makes me sad to think that this is the last time we'll have a 5 month old around. I absolutely LOVE this stage. Jordyn is SO STINKIN' CUTE, I can't stand it. Yes, I'm a bit biased, but I could just eat those cheeks up! I absolutely love watching Jacob interact with her. She is in love with her brother, and he just eats it up. It is the sweetest thing!! He can make her belly-laugh better than anyone else.

Anyway, here's a few new pics.....


Think they look alike????
















And of course, Chloe will always bee my baby too!

A different kind of outing....

Monday was my Dad's birthday. If he was still with us, it would have been #74 for him. Something dawned on me that day. This year marks 18 years since his death. I was 18 when he died. That means that I have now officially been without him as long as I was with him. I feel jipped. I had the best dad, and I only got 18 years with him??? Then I thought...wait, I got 18 years with the BEST dad. That's way better than 40 years with a crappy dad. But, now I feel jipped for my kids. They will never meet their Grandpa Ernie (on this earth). They are jipped. My dad would have LOVED them SO much.

Anyway, not to start a pity party or anything.....
I wanted to make sure that my kiddos know their Grandpa as best they can. We made a visit to the cemetary. On our way, Jacob asked where we were going. Kyle said, "We're going to see Momma's dad, your Grandpa". So, when we got to the cemetary, Jacob sat down at the grave, put his hands on the headstone and said, "Is this where Papa lives?" Sweet and sad all at the same time. And I love that he just automatically called him "Papa". Melts my heart. Here's some pics....
As you can see, Jordyn slept through the whole thing.....haha.

3 months already????

Actually, it's been 3-1/2 months already!! I know, I know, it's been quite a while since I've posted....oops! I knew that having two kids would be a lot of work and take a lot of my time, so this shouldn't really surprise me :)

Jordyn is growing fast. She is doing great. During the first month, I was griping quite a bit about how she was a "clingy" baby (wanting to be held all the time). Either that's just the way ALL babies are in the first month (DUH!) and I've forgotten, or it was just her. Either way, she is finally getting used to the world outside of my tummy. She is now a very happy, content little girl. She is more than happy to sit back and watch the world around her. She loves her big brother and watching him play. He makes her smile, which of course, makes us smile.

She had her first round of shots back in June. She was a bit cranky that day, but otherwise, she did great! She is already coming close to her second round of shots. I dread those appointments for obvious reasons.

At 2 months, she was 11-1/2 lbs and 23 inches long. That put her in the 75th percentile for both height and weight. We are still breastfeeding (which I'm SO excited about!) and she is eating about 4oz every 3-4 hours during the day. She varies her sleep so much, it's hard to say what's "normal" for her. She generally just cat naps during the day. Then, she usually falls asleep in her swing around 9pm. I feed her one more time at 10pm and put her to bed. Some nights she sleeps all the way until 7:30am (LOVE those nights), and some times, like last night, she was up at 12:30 and 4:00 to eat (YAWN). She is still tightly swaddled which seems to make a big difference in her sleep. Of course, on the nights she sleeps straight through, Jacob usually doesn't. Guess that's the joys of having two :)

Jacob is still doing fantastic with her. He loves his little sister so much. In fact, yesterday morning, I guess I was so tired, I didn't hear her crying at 5:45am. Jacob came to my side of the bed and said, "Momma, Jojo is crying". Before I could get in there, he had climbed up on her crib, trying to get her binky for her. Like I said, he loves her.

He is definitely a very active toddler. We got a Wii a few months ago and he has just about mastered it! We basically just turn on the tv and hand him the controller and he can navigate through it like a pro. He can even set himself up to play "live" with other REAL people online. It's really scarey how quickly he's caught on. Of course, we shouldn't really be that shocked....he's IS smart, y'know... :)

He is almost completely potty trained now. He has been without diapers during the day (even for naps) for about a year now. He's still wearing pull-ups at night, but most of the time, he's dry when he wakes up in the mornings. He has been such an adaptable kid. We are truly blessed!!

Being parents of two small kiddos is very tiring and between both our full-time jobs and maintaining the house, we're both wiped out pretty much all the time. I'm sure EVERY parent out there can relate! We're tired, maybe a little cranky now and then, but we wouldn't trade it for the world!!

1 month!!

In some ways, I can't believe it's already been a month. In others, it's seemed like decades. Unfortunately, my hopes for a good post partum time were dashed. I'm apparently just one that's gonna have trouble with hormones leveling out. I've been struggling. Finally, I'm beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel....I think. Jacob had hand-foot-mouth disease the second week we were home. Now, this past week, he's battling double ear infections (he hasn't had one in over 1.5 years) and we're having trouble keeping his fever down below 103!! Even with antibiotics. So, obviously, we're just trying to get by.

Jordyn is doing great. She is eating great (ALL THE TIME). And YAY!, I'm still nursing her. At least I was able to do that this time. I made it a full month before giving her a bottle. That was a HUGE milestone for me. She has had 2 bottles of formula (we tried to see if she'd sleep longer, but didn't work....and she'd much prefer momma's milk anyway). She is sleeping 3-4 hour stretches most of the time. Once, she gave me 5, but I'm still looking forward to the day when that is the norm vs. the exception. She is a very needy baby. Much more than Jacob was. If she's awake, she wants to be held or fed. She doesn't like the swing, bouncy seat or a pacifier. So, it's kind of wearing me down, but I'm trying to just soak it all in now cause I know soon enough I'll want to cuddle her and she won't want a thing to do with me. It's hard though when you are running on a month of sleep that consists of 3 hour stretches.

Baby Jordyn Renee is here

I went in to the hospital Tuesday (April 6th) as planned for my c/s. Long story short, I walked to the OR, got on the table, got a spinal that didn't take. Had to get a second spinal. Once I was good and numb, they started. The actual surgery was quick and painless. My previous c/s was with an epidural, and I felt much more pressure and pulling. This time, I really felt nothing (although I could smell her caurterizing some vessels.....ick). Kyle got some good pics of the actual surgery (if anyone wants to see what a uterus looks like, just let me know....lol). Jordyn was born at 7:55am. She came out crying....actually before her body was even out.

Because I had to have 2 spinals, I was numb until 5 pm that day. I had to lay flat that entire time!! Jordyn is doing great. Nursing is going great so far. My recovery is slow and painful, but I'm making progress.

Jordyn had a low blood sugar right after delivery and had to receive some IV fluids and formula, but she bounced back quickly and hasn't had formula since. She is still a bit jaudiced, but nothing of concern. In fact, the pedi didn't even schedule her back for a weekly follow-up, but 10 days instead!! She did fail her hearing test in the right ear, but again, the pedi was not concerned. She said that it's actually pretty common because of the fluid from birth. She'll be tested again in a month. Jacob was not too thrilled by her, but that was nothing we didn't expect.

Here are the final stats:
7 lbs, 7 oz
20 inches long
She's perfect!