Mobile Time

Kaylie is a fan of the mobile hanging fromher crib. She is really talkative compared to Isaac at this age and like her brother she is social, happy and loves to smile!

Kaylie Mania...

It's about time I post some pictures of Kaylie from the past month. It is amazing to see how fast she is growing and the personality is just growing.

May 1: 3 days old.
May 2: Smiling in her sleep.

May 13: More sleeping baby... looking just like Isaac did.

May 14: Mom and baby in our "station."

May 16: Being very chill in the bathtub.

May 18: Our cute kids.

May 19: She didn't like the camera flash.

May 22:

Tummy time, but she fell asleep.

Her foot is tiny compared to mine.

Isaac likes to hug.

What a nice pillow.

Teepee

Mimi (my mom) made Isaac a really cool place to play: a TEEPEE!! Here is the night we set it up while my parents were visiting. Isaac had fun doing some exploring...

Proof...

that my baby girl is balding. The envelope in the background is only there for a contrasting color. We are trying to figure out is she will be blond or brown.

Climbing the Y

Yesterday Kris and Isaac hiked the Y!! I've been in Provo about 7 years and I still haven't done that! It took 1 hour 25 minutes to climb up and only 35 minutes to come down. Isaac walked the whole way up but needed to be carried the first 1/3 of the way down. He threw a fit when it was time to leave, he wanted to keep playing. He saw and was kissed by some dogs along the way (when he got home he asked for more doggie kisses), saw the Temple while up on the mountain. Isaac devoured his juice pack, fruit snacks, and nutrigrain bar at the top. He collected rocks along the way and then brought them home to me. He enjoyed running up the path but then wanted to run down the hill (which is obviously not a good idea) so Kris had to keep a good hold on to him. In addition he was very excited about the lizards he saw.

One Month Old...

The first few weeks have passed by so quickly. Here is a little about Kaylie and how she is doing.

-She is a spit up queen. I get thrown up/generously spit upon every 2-3 days. Isaac has only done this twice ever! So I'm really putting to use the burp cloths I have and living next to the laundry room.

-This girl is just dang cute. As she gets older the cuteness multiplies. Only problem is I have a hard time capturing this on camera. The result is she looks like a baby with a smashed face, no neck or something more odd. I'll keep trying. Just know that to see her in person is a much more satisfying experience and the cuteness factor will blow you away!

-She has a long torso and is filling out. She is already chewier than Isaac ever was. I LOVE her little thighs, so much fun to squeeze.

-She is a dream in the sleep compartment at least compared to Isaac. She has given me a preview of what is to come with 3 nights of 6 hour stretches. I was so thankful for those.

-Kaylie nibbles. I still am nursing her during the day every 2 to 3 hours... I hope this changes.

-She looks like a girl version of Isaac (when he was this age), with the same "sleeping face" too.

-Kris likes getting her to "walk" and helping her fly around the room, and she is good at locking those knees and standing up straight. It is fun to stand her next to Isaac and marvel at the height and size difference between them.

-This girl has a receding hairline, or "male pattern baldness". We can't tell if the new hair will grow in as blonde or brown... Wanna guess what I'm rooting for?

-She is a no pacifier baby... that's what I'm for, sadly. She gags when we put one in her mouth, but she sleeps great without one, so no complaints there.

-Has started half-smiling right at the one month mark.

-She is a very good snuggler. Kris has quite the knack with getting her to fall asleep.

Here are five pictures I took of her at the one month mark:

Talk about good timing...

Thank you Netflix for realizing you wanted to offer my husband ANOTHER free two week trial. You brought joy to my late evenings and you somehow knew that I would be up at all hours of the night (with a newborn) when no good TV would be on. The instant play feature RULES and was put to really good use. I watched more using the instant play than the DVDs.

Isaac loved watching Word World episodes.

Kristopher stayed up till 430 in the morning one night watching The Office episodes. I felt like a mom telling one of my children to go to bed when I woke up and realized he was still awake.. I love him.

I got caught up on some CSI episodes I had missed and got a fix of a weird guilty pleasure of mine: XENA!! It is so cheesy but I could finally see them in some sort of order instead of the randomness I'd see them on TV.

Kris and I had a mock date night after both kids were asleep and we could curl up on the couch and watch a movie.. It was so nice having alone time with Kris.

We have decided that when we move to Kirksville we won't be signing up for any TV, but will be doing Netflix instead (it costs 1/3 of what cable would). I'll miss being able to watch the news and other things, but the networks post most of what I watch online and I don't watch much during the day unless it is PBS cartoons and Disney. This way too I'll still get to see new(er) movies without paying the price to go to a single showing at a theatre.

Just another day...

You know it is just another day in our house when...

...while nursing Kaylie, Isaac informs me she is eating. "Oh really? What is she eating?" "Chocolate milk!!" Is Isaac's response.

...I make the mistake of telling Isaac that it is a "special treat" to read books before bedtime on the couch (instead of in his room) with dad. Isaac then seems to think that "special treat" was in reference to a type of food and goes searching in the kitchen for whatever dessert item he was meant to have.

...Kristopher's birthday cake receives a special Isaac present: a hand imprint in the frosting.

...Kris and I are both sick on our individual birthdays, even though they are 13 days apart!

...I don't have a clue what day of the week it is. It is a very typical occurrence when I have to ask Kris what day it is. Obviously I don't get out much.

...Isaac and Kris create block masterpieces that Isaac likes to call: Mickey Mouse Clubhouses. I think it is sweet that he likes to be Mickey's architect.

...Isaac and I are reading a book about animals and for each one Isaac is making their sound: naa, baa, meow, etc. When a fox comes on the page Isaac asks me what sound the fox makes. I look at him and tell him I have no idea. Turning back to the page Isaac mater of factly says, "Fox goes 'ribbit ribbit'." Who would have known?

The first child...

While it seems so much of my time has been consumed with Kaylie, Isaac has and continues to make life funny and totally worth it!!

~~The kiddo still loves to be in the kitchen with us and especially LOVES to crack eggs and measure things with cups and teaspoons.~~

~~As annoying as it can get when watched over and over, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Little Einsteins has saved my sanity!! It keeps Isaac entertained enough that I can collapse on the couch and be woken now and then to open yogurt containers or when he climbs up next to me to cuddle.~~

~~Isaac loves to tell me, "Mommy more clothes" when I walk around in a tank top or am nursing Kaylie. He also tells Kaylie to wear more clothes when I'm in the middle of changing her diaper. At the very least I'll have a modest little boy on my hands.~~

~~I guess I have not been as vigilant as I ought to be. Isaac has picked up Kaylie twice and tried to bring her to me. He didn't drop her and man was he REALLY proud of himself. I, on the other hand, tried not to freak out and amazingly didn't yell at him. I was mainly concerned he would drop her if I did. ~~

~~In our attempt to figure out what is causing a continual cough/cold with Isaac we had him sleep in our bed and we took over the front room for a few days after I came home from the hospital. I was so proud of that boy when he slept well in our bed, didn't climb out AND didn't FALL out!!~~

~~One of the best things about his AWESOME speaking skills (even though I know it is partly a delay tactic for bedtime): he asks for hugs and kisses before we leave the room at night.~~

~~My son tells on me to Kris: he now can tell him that we had mac 'n cheese for lunch or when we go by a McDonald's or Wendy's he asks for nuggets and fries.. Dang it!!~~

~~He will randomly count in French. I guess he is just not quite sure which numbers are the English ones. It is really cool though to hear him counting stairs or whatever it may be in another language.~~

~~And speaking of stairs, this kid is trying to get me back into shape by having me climb the stairs of our apartment complex. HE LOVES TO DO THIS! I've had to tell him no, however. My bones just are NOT up to it yet, gotta give me a few more weeks.~~~~The coolest thing he has done in the past few weeks? Got out his books for church and brought them to Kaylie. One after another he read them to her and on each page, whether he was there or not, Isaac pointed out Jesus Christ to her. What a good big brother!!~~

How I spent part of the afternoon...

Watched "pocco gnocchi gnocchi" (AKA Pinocchio) with Isaac. I tried to write the word phonetically, how it came out of his mouth. I love the way 2-year old kiddos try to pronounce things!

Week One!

It has been a long, but at the same time a very SHORT first week of Kaylie's life. Here are some of things we have all been up to:

-As of right now, this child actually sleeps! I'm so impressed. We'll see how this trend goes. Then again she sleeps a ton during the day and then is up for 2-3 hour stretchs at night... trying to remember when this stops.

-Isaac loves to give his sister kisses, hugs and each time she cries or fusses he tells us that "baby sister hungry!"-The belly button thing fell off on day 5! Twice as fast as Isaac's.

-We still have not given her a bath. I'm not wanting to make her cry just yet. But it just seems we are busy with other more important things.

-I'm having alot more fun than expected putting her into her little clothes!!

-She only has a low risk of jaundice and two days after coming home we took her in to get tested. Holy happiness when we found out they could do a test where they DON'T have to prick her foot if she did well. They have this contraption that looks like a modified ear thermometer that flashes her forehead with light several times and tells us what her bilirubin levels are. She did well!

-Isaac helped get "boogies out" of sister's nose.-Isaac has acted very out of character ever since she was born. He is very nice and sweet to her, but is grouchy, doesn't listen, whines over everything, etc. We can attribute it to learning to adjust or to not feeling well as he has had a chronic cough and and inflamed ear... I'm hoping with the sickness going away my happy little boy will return completely. I miss him sorely.

-Kris has been able to be home this past week, making things much easier. His parents were also able to visit this weekend and keep Isaac occupied while we all adjusted. Now the in-laws have gone and Kris returned to work today. I'm just taking it one day at a time and maybe we'll go for a walk later on. That usually makes him very happy.

-This breastfeeding thing is a mix of good and not-so-good: The cramping (not so good), the shrinking waistline (very good), I'm the only one that can feed her in the middle of the night (not so good), SOOO much cheaper (very good), the learning process with much patience (not so good), I'm guaranteed quality snuggling time with my little girl (AWESOME!!)

-This nursing for 2-3 three minutes thing at a time, then falling asleep for 15 minutes to a half hour is soo frustrating. She will then wake up crying to be fed!!

-Isaac shook her baby rattle for her last night, as we were trying to keep her awake for a bit before bedtime. He accidentally hit her on the forehead. Our first instinct was to yell, but thankfully we held off. He looked shocked and sorry. He gave her a hug, kissed her forehead and said he was sorry. SO SWEET!

-Her little feet are so flexible, they bend all the way back. I was almost afraid I had hurt her when I realized it did that the first time.
-We caught her sucking her thumb one time, she has always liked chewing on her fist!

A few thoughts...

• Isaac truly is no longer my baby. He is HUGE compared to Kaylie!

• The nurse showed me the catheter that came out of my back after my epidural... ew and ouch. I didn't need to see that.
• I am SO thankful for breast pumps
  
• They should tell you how much easier it is to heal after baby #2.
• One of the hardest things in the world to do: keep a newborn awake for any stretch of time.
• Apartments are NOT places to raise children and little babies. Thank goodness for an upcoming move to more space, less neighbors and hopefully more attentive landlords!
• It is truly one of the most attractive things in the world to see your husband hold and cuddle your newborn and then go and put your toddler to bed.
  

Introducing Kaylie Kristine Marin!!!

Isaac met Kaylie Kristine the night she was born. He did really well after he got over the initial shock of seeing me feeding her while hooked up to a machine getting my blood pressure taken. He wanted to hold "baby sister" and give her hugs and kisses. He would point to her eyes, nose, toes, hands, etc. tell us what they were. He tickled her sides and loved playing with her toes. We decided on her name last night, and it will take a little bit for it to sink in for Isaac. I think he is so used to calling her baby sister. At least when I ask him where Kaylie is he doesn't point to my stomach, but to the actual person. Here are some more pictures:Playing with her bow.Dad, Isaac, and Kaylie, WITH my hand in the way of the light... I tried to reproduce it but was not successful. Kris has a nice little smile on his face.Isaac likes to point out his belly button when I ask him to. He wanted to see Kaylie's and didn't like the look of it, which was funny to see.Playing with Kaylie's toes:I'll get more going, but this should be a start to satisfying some grandparents. : )

The rest of the story...

Things got a little busy after the play by play, so here is what I can remember:

8:30 AM- Kris was on his way back up to the hospital and I was SOO ready for my epidural. I was pretty proud of myself for waiting longer this time. With Isaac I felt one contraction and asked for drugs. I was just (for some crazy reason) really wanting to know what labor felt like. I can say this: I can't imagine what it would be like by the time delivery came around. Holy OUCH!! But all was well.

The anesthesol....gist was ready to administer the dose and the nurse was getting me all set up when Kris walks in the door. He made it just in time! He wanted to watch, I held the nurses hand and the doctor, who by the way, did not seem very happy (you would really want a happy outgoing doctor to be sticking a catheter in your back), went to work. The process was about 15 minutes and I was thankful when it was done. It doesn't hurt as much as it is a really awkward and weird feeling to have someone working on your back.

9:30 AM- The epidural is up to my hips, but I'm still feeling the contractions at about 50%. I love the "happy button" that lets you give yourself an extra dose each 20 minutes. Kris set a timer on his watch to make sure the button got pushed at each opportunity. The nurse goes looking for the drug doc to give me an extra push.

9:43 AM- I'm trying to let myself relax with each contraction that is now coming each 2 to 3 minutes. I'm unable to walk around now that I'm tied to the bed/trying to be fully paralyzed with drugs. Kris is fantastic by letting me do my thing and then he cracks jokes as the contractions wear off.

9:51 AM- My nurse puts me on oxygen as baby girl is having a lower heart rate. They are hoping the oxygen will boost it up.

10:05 AM- The nurse and Kris get me situated on my side. This is SO much more comfortable than laying on my back, but tilted. I'm only feeling the contractions in my lower right abdomen now at about 25% strength.

10:10 AM- The nurse breaks my water as I'm dilated to about 7 (out of 10). She does it by inserting a moniter to check the baby's heart beat. Not a lot of amniotic fluid so they decide to pump a solution around the baby to keep her happy and comfortable. I'm not feeling too much with my legs so no big deal at all.

10:30 AM- The anesthol..gist arrives again and gives me a fantastic large dose of drugs into my IV line. I can feel the coldness running into my back. Weird. The doctor is in a better mood now. That is good news. I guess he had 4 women requesting drugs all at once. Talk about some pressure on his shoulders.

10:50 AM- Oh wow I can feel the effects of the drugs now. I'm feeling much better.

1056 AM-The nurse comes to check on me again and resituated with all of my tubes and hoses. I've got one for my pitocin (which they turned off to give the baby a break), one for my saline solution drip, I'm on oxygen, I've got a solution for the baby and a catheter as well as my epidural line.. Holy dang. Andra, the nurse asks me to let her know if I'm feeling any pressure as that will let them know if the baby's head is really dropping. I say ok and then about 15 seconds later I feel exactly what she is talking about: oh, THAT is pressure. I let her know, she checks me and tells me I'm fully dialated and the baby's head is right there. She goes to call the doctor.

11:05 AM- I've developed the shakes, even though I'm not cold. My nurse goes to get me a warmer blanket and it really does the trick to help cut down on the shaking, though I've still got them.

11: 30 AM- Dr. Judd arrives and everyone gets to work setting things up. Dr. Judd asked me how it feels to be the most pregnant woman in his office. I won't be in 20 minutes, so that is kind of weird. They try getting me into position and we realize the drugs have REALLY done their job as I can no longer feel a singer thing from my belly button down. I didn't even realize they were moving my legs until I saw one slump over. WEIRD!!!

11:40 AM- They have me just about ready to go and Kris gets set up with the camera around his neck.

11:56 AM- Our Baby girl is born!! I can say that I laughed her out. They had me push but Dr. Judd kept cracking jokes so I was laughing so much. Then, because I couldn't feel anything, I gave some fake yells and grunts, and cursed Kris for doing this to me. Judd didn't use any forceps like he needed with Isaac. They kept telling me how much hair she has and I get so excited. She gives some great cries and moves around great. Her Apgar score was 8 for the first minute and 9 for the 5 minute mark. She was 7 lbs. 9 oz, 20.5 inches long, has a ton of dark hair, eyes open and loved looking around while she was being cleaned off. She has a similar look (at least to me) that Isaac did when he was born and her nose is just like his!!

12:45-1:00 PM- We get her to breastfeed on one side for 15 minutes. I am thrilled. I know it is going to be a lot of work, but it is exciting to see it happen. I devour the lunch they brought in just after she was born, with Kristopher's help. I was STARVING!!

It is now 9:45 am the day after she is born and I've been able to get her to feed 5 times and she has 3 fantastic dirty diapers. This may be weird talk for those who don't have kids, but for me it is great news. Isaac had a hard time with the whole pooping thing in hospital, so this is great. She hated her bath, but loved getting her hair washed, now that screams girl to me! Kris picked out a pretty green bow that she is still wearing. She is very easy going for this first day. She likes to be held, but will also look around in her bin. She is pretty quiet for right now, we'll see how she is after she has a day or two to rest up. She already gave herself some scratches so we covered her hands up. She loves to chew on her fists and the nurse said she probably did that in utero and is now a habit. It is amazing to think of the differences between my two children already at this age. She slept pretty well during the night though we had to work for an hour each time she fed to get her latched on. I at least got two good stretches of sleep. We are noticing she does well at this point sleeping while other things are going on in the room. I pray she stays that way, but we'll see.

I'm feeling great, much more able to get up and move around than with Isaac. Dr. Judd (who came this morning) says that is normal with "veteran" moms. I don't feel as out of sorts which is a good way to start off.

The pediatrician who say our girl says she looks great to him and doesn't see anything wrong. He said to be aware of two things however: if during the first two weeks breastfeeding is easy than I'm not allowed to tell another woman and if during the first two weeks at least the house is clean I have OCD and to go to bed and take a rest. It was a good laugh to start the day off.