Baby girl is 9 Months old!

Big changes are happening with this family!!!

And no, it has nothing to do with another child. {yes we plan on one more...in the future}

BUT! A few months ago we had decided to move, while we are only moving about an 1 1/2 away...it's going to be a big change. Well our deadline is closing in, and I put in my resume` to University of Missouri Women's and Children's Hospital. Their interviewing process is quite long.... usually takes 1- 1 1/2 months.

Well I went in for my first interview, with HR, last Wednesday and immediately following I got a call to go meet with the nursing supervisor of the OR dept. So we headed straight over (and by me, I mean Morgan {my bff}, both kiddos, and I) and I talked with her quite a bit. Then last Thursday, only a day after my first interview, I got a call for my phone interview and set it up for Monday 1/28 at 3pm.

The phone interview tests to see if you care for your job, are a friendly person, quick to get upset, etc. I was told to be quick and not hesitate and be very friendly and positive. It tested to see how well you would fit in and if you would be a good match with the rest of the team. I took that interview yesterday, and frankly, I was really unsure if I passed it. I honestly don't remember half of the questions or how I answered them. I remember talking about my kids a lot, which I was sure would probably hurt me. I remember talking about taking Gabriel to the park, making cupcakes with Gabriel, etc.... I do remember some of the silly questions, like "would you ever borrow an item from a friend?" "give me an example?", "when you get off work, how do you prefer to go home?" "what are your interests and hobbies?" I really wondered what any of that had to do with...really anything, but I answered quickly and to the best of my abilities.

And I guess I did well, because I got a call this morning setting up my last interview with the nurse manager of the OR dept. So Thursday at 11am I have my last and final interview. I don't want to jinx myself, so I'm not saying anything other than I really just have the formal processes to go through: physical, references, drug screen, making sure all my immunizations are up to date... things like that.

So...by the end of this week, it looks like I'll be good to go! Josh has his testing on Tuesday the 5th, and we will hopefully find something out within 3 weeks on him. Regarless, as long as I have a job we will be moving. We are looking for places around the 18th of February, and plan on moving the following weekend.

I'm sooooo excited, not only to move and start new, but to get an experience like the job that I soon {hopefully} will have.

8 Months Old

Oh how he's changed...

So I'm officially planning a 3rd birthday and a 1st birthday. It's going to be a joint birthday since we will {hopefully} will have new jobs and be moved into a different town, and well....I don't feel like having two parties back to back, especially since the people who will be coming--would have to travel for both. Their birthdays are 8 days apart. Sooo... a double party it is. It's a mickey and minnie party. I'm stoked for it too!

But alas...on with the title of this post right??

So I was making their month by month picture banners {Gabriel's is every 6 months} and it's so crazy to think how much he has changed. He used to be this little tiny baby...who than became a chunky big boy.... who now is this thin, but big boy. He's always been on the big side, and he's always been my little {big} baby, but he really doesn't look as big as he used to be... yet he's a whopping 40lb, 40+ inch toddler.

He's become this independent, free, want-to-do-it-on-my-own boy. Every day he learns new words. Heck, he used his fingers to count to 5....I didn't know he could do that. Crazy?!?! He amazes me daily... he frustrates me daily....and he shows me how much he loves me daily. I couldn't ask for a better son.

He has started to become a tad jealous of Kellie now. Not sure where it came from, maybe because she's more mobile now...maybe because she's getting bigger and he thinks he needs to show her who's boss, either way, it's frustrating. BUT, he always...and I mean ALWAYS will kiss her goodnight and tell her he loves her. When they are laying down by each other, he pats her on the head, as if to tell her "I'm here little sister, and I love you". I'm just hoping the jealousy phase goes quickly, because it's hard not to defend her and not make him feel horrible or burst out in tears.

He has some pretty good tantrums, to say the least. Most during bedtime, because he hates going to bed. Afterall there is just sooo much to do. Others are when he's trying to explore, and the exploring will get him hurt...so we stop him. And....first thing in the morning. Like me, Gabriel is NOT a morning person. Like his father if he is hungry, he gets irritable and angry.

Oh and did I mention the boy is potty trained {learned-which ever you prefer}... And now, he pees standing up... which is quite humorous, since he puts his hands on his hips and pushes his hips forward. And just stands there and smiles while he pees. He also will pee standing up, then turn around and sit on the potty to poop. Seems like that turns it into a long process, but hey...the boy does what he wants. He hasn't had an accident in I don't know how long. One proud mama right here :o) We still put a pull up on him at night, just because we don't have a waterproof cover on his bed yet... but he still doesn't pee at night or naptime {he doesn't wear one at nap time}. Soooo nice not to buy diapers {I bought a pack of pull ups over a month and a half ago}, well except cloth. But that's a different subject.

His favorite shows are Dora the Explorer, Go Diego Go, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, and certain disney movies. He gets hooked on a movie for a month, then moves to another... The Lion King used to be his favorite, right now it's the "kitty movie" aka Puss N Boots.

He still takes his Tigger every where, but now he has a cat that he takes everywhere. He got the Cat from Build a Bear and he "built" it on his own. It's name is Cooper {which is also his pretend friend's name} but he doesn't call him Cooper now, he just says Cat. And he cares for him like it's a real cat.

Did I mention that he's a total sweetheart? He kisses boo-boo's, tucks in all his stuffed animals, snuggles when I'm sad, hugs and kisses Kellie out of no where. And while randomly tell me "I love you momma". Melt my heart.

He is also a clown. He loves to show off. He sings in the car, and will put on a show in the store for everyone...but the moment a little girl walks by he freezes and turns into jello. Silly boy.

He picks up random things from tv now too. We noticed when he watched "turtles" or TMNT that he would get more aggressive {yes, we stopped that immediately, and any other 'violent' types of shows} or he'll go explore and stop swipper with Dora. The cutest one though...he got one of his toys and "cracked" it open like the baboon off of The Lion King and stuck his finger inside and pretended to paint the goo on our foreheads like the baboon does to Simba. He did it to Kellie first, then to all his stuffed animals...then finally to Josh & I. It was sooo cute.

I tried counting all the words he can say...and it's impossible. It's got to be over 250-300 now....and that's the low end. He says about 3-5 new words a day, just out of no where...and I just look at him like "uhh huh... interesting kid". I just can't believe how much this little boy knows. It seriously amazing me.

Oh and another cute thing... He loves to pray. Which I love. We believe in God, we teach him that God is great... he has his own bible, but we don't go to church really... only when we go to my parents {I hope we can change that soon, I want them to go to church...I want to go to church}. Anyway, a 2 1/2 year old saying "Amen" and thanking God for everything is purely precious.

I plan to post some on Kellie sooner rather than later, but I had some time tonight...so I thought I would talk about how much this boy amazes me, and if you haven't figure that out yet...then you probably never will haha.

7 Months old!

Like how I'm posting this a mere 6 days before she turns 8 months old? Ehhh...at least I posted it right? These two little rascals keep this momma BUSY! Not to mention throwing a few holidays into the mix, and it's turned into pure chaos. Oh and we're moving in 8ish weeks. Whoohooo! <<< that's a good whoohoo btw. Anyway here is her 7 month update!

Halloween Pictures!

As you can tell we had a Tigger & Piglet for Halloween this year. Gabe chose the costumes, and as you know (or maybe you don't) he has a thing for Tigger. He has slept with his Tigger since he was 9 months old. Piglet just suited Miss Kellie. Halloween was pretty fun this year. Gabriel figured it out pretty quickly. And once he had it figured out he wasn't going to allow anyone to take his bucket of candy. Here is pictures from their professional photo shoot by Heidi Lynn Photography (she also did their pictures that are at the top of the page).

6 MONTHS!!?!?!

Cloth Diapering!

I'm currently putting my Monday Night Dinner post together. But while I'm getting that together, I figured I would talk a little about cloth diapering!

Okay, so originally I had wanted to cloth diaper Gabriel BUTTTTTTT Josh wasn't having it. Come to find out the reason he didn't want to was because he thought it was like "the olden days", where you have to safety pin a piece of cloth to the kid then put him/her in plastic pants. Well cloth diapering has come a LONG way from then. Yes, many still use that technique, although they are called prefolds, but some use this thing called a snappi instead of pins. I'm sure some still use pins, we don't. We mainly use a diaper called an AIO a.k.a. all-in-one. So let me start at the beginning....

I showed Josh on the internet some types of cloth diapers. Mainly the pockets, aio, ai2's...because they were most like a sposie (disposible diaper). I also wrote down some calculations. A 'stash' of diapers would run roughly 400-500 dollars. Yeah that seems like a lot of money, but that's the higher end of the deal. Some can be as low as 200-250 dollars to diaper your child until they are potty trained...and these days that's on the closer end of three. Boys actually average three and a half. Then I calculated how much diapers are costing us for just Gabriel until potty trained...that equalled up to around 3500 dollars (and that was birth until three-ish years!!!!! so it's actually going to cost us more since he likely won't be potty trained by then). Yeah, expensive right? So I hooked him.

Yeah, Gabriel is still using sposie's because for some reason I just can switch him over. I'm not sure why. I think in the beginning it was the whole washing the poop off the diaper because solids don't dissolve in the wash, and breastfed baby poo does. But now that Kellie is on solids, it kinda seems silly to wash her diapers and keep him in sposies. I will ponder on that some more.

Okay so back to the diapers. So my mom went a little crazy, we ended up having something like 75 diapers right before Kellie was born. A good stash you only need around 30ish. So we went a little over board, to say the least. But here is where one of the cool parts come in. What I tried and didn't like or what she grew out of, we sold. And we pretty much made our money back too. Amazing right?!?!?! Well I think so. So the ones I absolutely hated, I sold...and bought others to try and so on and so forth.

So my stash now is actually completely different from what it was like in the beginning, then again changed after a few more months. I mainly had pockets in the beginning.Pockets are a diaper you stuff with an insert. Like there is literally a pocket between the PUL (what keeps the diaper waterproof, so baby doesn't leak out of the diaper) and microfleece inside (which is a stay dry fabric and helps to pull the urine off the bum and into the insert). The inserts can be made of different types of material. Most come with a MF or microfiber insert. It's a synthetic material that is really absorbable. You can also buy them with natural fibers such as hemp, cotton, or bamboo. These are really absorbent as well, SUPER absorbent, but also on the expensive side. The top two pictures are a WAHM (work at home mom-made diaper), the second a Blueberry Mini Deluxe (MY FAVORITE NEWBORN DIAPER BY FAR), then a bumgenius pocket diaper in the last two. By the way, notice how you can coordinate your outfit around the diaper and vice versa. I love it.

Then I switched to Tots Bots, which is an all in one, meaning you don't have to add an insert...BUT I still had to stuff the tongue of the attached insert into the pocket, and it had the pocket to add absorbancy. I got tired really quick of stuff. I LOVED Tots Bots, but ehhh... I hate stuffing, it's time consuming. Baby girl rockin' the Tots Bots Easy Fit

I also tried fitteds with a cover and/or fleece soaker for a short (very short) time. A fitted is best for night time diapers, but a lot of moms use them for any time. They are great for heavy wetters, and most moms use them without a cover around the house--because they are JUST that absorbant. However, Kellie would cry when she was in them because the bulkiness would cause her not to be able to move her lower half really. So...I got rid of them pretty quickly, but I am glad I at least tried them out :) A cover is a waterproof cover you put over the fitted, which is another step I didn't like having to take. Pretty much like pockets, it's an extra step I didn't want to have to take. Because I'm just that lazy. And the fleece soakers act as a wicking agent. Meaning you put it over a diaper and it will help push the pee back into the diaper, thus less leaks. Here are some pictures of fleece soakers (with ruffles [I die!] and a fitted without and with a cover on.

Now my stash is all contained of all in ones. I also am a bit obsessive and have 3 of every color that I own. The brand that I use is Bumgenius and I use freetimes. They have two flaps attached that you can fold however you want to put the most absorbancy in the area you need it most PLUS they dry super fast. AIO's are usually a pain because the soaker is attached to the actual diaper itself, thus not having to stuff it. But since its attached it usually takes so much longer to dry (in my opinioin anyway). But the freetime dries in half the time it takes any other AIO I've tried. Here is baby girl rockin' a freetime.

I am by no means a diaper expert. I do what works for us and us only. For instance, most HATE velcro but I prefer it. It's so quick and easy to put the diaper on--not worrying about which snaps to put together and what not. Although I'm sure we will have to convert our diapers to snaps at some point as older babies tend to rip their diapers off with velcro since it's easy removal. But for now that's what we like.

Here is a little chart that shows another reason why we are cloth diapering (although its not the main reason by far, as we do still put disposibles on Gabriel)...

We also use disposibles on Kellie when we need to go out of town. It's just easier that way. We don't have to worry about what kind of water there is (hard, soft, normal--believe it or not that plays a big part), whether or not they use fabric softener in their washer and/or dryer (yes that plays a huge part too), etc. It's just easier that way. BUT Kellie hates them. She really doesn't like the feel of them on, which who really would? Plastic and scratchy absorbant material vs. soft cotton or microfleece against the bum... mmm, I would choose cloth too.

So there is my speal on the whole diaper thing. It's not for you? That's fine... it works for us. Do what works for you :)

*By the way, I started this post last week...and it literally took me this long to put it together. Shame on me*

5 Months Old!

Menu Monday!

Okay, so I'm getting a little better, eh? Well, I'm trying anyway. Today I'm going to start a new weekly blog post called Menu Monday. I got the idea from a blog I follow: Blessings, Miracles, & Thoughts in Between. So here it is:

Monday: Chicken & Scallop Cajun Fettuccine Alfredo (yum!)
--It's actually suppose to be shrimp, but...I hate shrimp, so I'm substituting with Chicken!
Tuesday: Chili
--I'm so excited it's started to get more and more chilly outside, because I love me some soup. And Gabriel LOVES Chili!
Wednesday: Salsa Chicken Wraps
--Delish! And so easy to make!
Thursday: Leftovers!
--I'm sure we will have all sorts of leftovers from the Chili & Salsa Chicken! *I like to cook for 20 and often forget I'm only cooking for 3. Womp Womp...
Friday: Tuna Noodle Casserole
--super easy to make and throw in the fridge for Josh to cook right before I get home on lunch break!
Saturday: Leftovers!
--Remember how I said I usually cook for 20??? Yep, we frequently have lots of leftovers.
Sunday: Brown Sugar Glazed Salmon
--Haven't tried this yet, but it sounds yummy! My parents went to Alaska on vacation, thus I have lots of salmon and halibut! *and some game meats too--bear, moose, buffalo!*  :)

So, that's what we're having this week! What are you gonna eat? Also, I will post pictures and recipes on each of my days if anyone wants to try them out! (The whole 10 people who follow me that is, haha.)

A day in the life of our family!

Okay, so I pretty much suck. At blogging that is. I even vowed to blog on my vacation, and still didn't/haven't. Oh well...you are used to it by now. I'm currently tallying up how many words Gabriel can say now. I swear every day a new one pops up. It's crazy how much he can talk now...and even putting sentences together. I think I'm going to have to do a post on just one day of his conversations just to show you how well he can talk and how many funny things he says. But for now, I wanted to show you just how crazy our "schedule" is, and thus why I hardly ever blog.
4:50am--Josh wakes up for work
5:30am--Kellie wakes up to nurse
5:45am--Kellie falls back to sleep
9:15am--Gabriel comes into our room and wakes us up for the day
9:30am--Change Gabriel & Kellie's Diapers
9:45am--Turn on cartoons and lay Kellie down on her piano mat for playtime
10:00am--Josh comes home on break; cook breakfast
10:30am--Nurse Kellie; feed her a veggie and fruit
10:45am--Naptime for Kellie
11:00-12:30pm--cook lunch and supper; play with Gabriel; clean the house
12:45--Eat lunch, nurse Kellie
1:00pm--Take a shower with two kids, get them dressed for the day
1:15pm--snack time for Gabriel
1:30pm--nurse Kellie to sleep
1:40pm--Pack up the kiddos and leave to meet Josh at work
2:30pm-4:30/5pm--Kiddos take a nap
(2:00pm-6:00pm--I'm at work/4:30pm--I pump)
6:00pm--supper/break
6:20pm--nurse Kellie; feed her a veggie and fruit
6:45pm--Give the kiddos a quick bath and in pj's
7:00pm--I go back to work, Kiddo's play/watch cartoons
8:00pm--Gabriel eats a snack
9:00pm--Kellie has a bottle/I pump at work
9:15pm--Kellie takes a nap, Gabriel watches a cartoon
10:30pm--I come home from work, Josh goes to bed, I nurse Kellie
10:50pm--Gabriel goes to bed (kicking and screaming usually); I lay down with him or sit on his bed while rocking Kellie and singing lullabies
11:30pm--all kids are (hopefully) asleep and I watch my T.V. shows
12:30am-1:00am--I go to sleep

And then it starts all over again. Blech....I wish our schedule was better, but right now thats how it is. Busy huh???

Updates!

Okay so I suck at blogging :( BUT, I'm going to change. I plan on blogging AT LEAST 3x a week, if not more. I got this idea from The Paro Post and thought it would be a good thing to do with Kellie, since I kinda sucked with updates with Gabriel. I will start them with him too, but have a LOT to catch up on. So for now here are the first 4 months of Kellie's life :)

I will be on vacation starting tomorrow, so maybe I can actually catch this blog up!

Updates!!!

Wow....I'm a sucky blogger! Life has me completely swamps :) These two are amazing. Gabe is a wonderful big brother and loves "Kale-we" very much! It warms my heart! Okay so until I can come up with everything that's gone on in the past 3ish months (what?!?!? How has it almost been 3 months already?!?!) here are some photo collages of Miss Kellie from birth until now :)

Weight: 9lb 8.4oz
Height: 20 inches long
Percentile: 90th

Weight: 11lb 9oz
Height: 21 3/4 inches long
Percentile: 94th

Weight: 13lb 4oz
Height: 23 3/4 inches
Percentile: 95th

Kellie Rain’s Birth Story

A Little Backstory

At 18 weeks I was diagnosed with PIH (pregnancy-induced hypertension). I was placed on blood pressure medications and monitored my blood pressure at home twice a day. My blood pressure would spike up a little, but nothing that was worrisome. That is until Tuesday, May 1st. I started to feel woozy, lethargic, and was getting headaches. I had taken my blood pressure and it was elevated, but eventually went down after I took an extra BP medication. As the hours past, it slowly creeped up--and even extra medication wouldn't keep it down longer then an hour or two. Wednesday it was 166/104. I was stubborn and waited until Thursday morning to call my doctor and get an appointment. The main reason I waited was because my doctor had been out of town the previous weekend and wouldn't be back in the office until Thursday, and since he knows my history with pre-eclampsia, PIH, and postpartum hemorrhage--I wanted him to deal with me.

The beginning of the end of Kellie's Pregnancy

At 8am on Thursday morning, May 3rd, I called the doctor’s office and asked to talk to a nurse. I told the nurse my symptoms and asked to see Dr. P. The nurse got me in, but Dr. P was booked so I was scheduled to see Dr. S at 9:30am. I went in and my blood pressure was 144/94 (which was 1 1/2 hours after I took my medication, so it shouldn't be that high), and I was symptomatic for pre-eclampsia—which I had with Gabe. Dr. S notified Dr. P of my blood pressure, and Dr. P came in right away. He did a quick assessment, checked my cervix (which hadn’t changed since Monday, April 30th), and told me we would be having a baby that day. He asked me when I would be able to arrive at the hospital so he could notify the nurses and start the orders. I still needed to pack our suitcase (Yes...I know last minute), take a shower, Josh needed to get ready, and we needed to wait until my mom and step-dad could get to the hospital--so my mom could be there for the birth and my step-dad could watch Gabriel. I told him I could be there between 1-2 pm. I then called my mom and told her to head our way, it was 2 1/2 hours from where she was. 

Arriving at the Hospital

We showed up at the hospital at 1:20pm, got checked in and settled into room, and started with the millions of admission questions. Labor & Delivery was busy, so it took a while for me to get my IV, labs, and all that good stuff. By 3:30pm my IV had been put in and the Pitocin had been started. I was already having contractions, but they didn’t amount to anything. 

Waiting for my IV

 

My board...

Waiting for something to happen!!!

The Start of Labor

Around 4:30pm they were getting intense. Josh rubbed my lower back during each contraction to help with the pain. The nurse came back in and checked me at 5:30pm and I had increased to 4cm (from 3cm 50% effaced—like I had been since 36 weeks), but still 50% effaced and -3 station. She asked if I wanted an epidural and I told her not yet—that I didn’t feel like I was in too much pain, but may change my mind in an hour or so. The nurse then came back an hour later, and checked me and I was 5cm 50% effaced, and -2 station. I requested the epidural. I received the epidural at 7pm and felt instant relief. I was soooo happy.

"This shit hurts...enough said"

I love you epirdural!

Okay....I must have been feeling really good!!!

My mountain peak contractions

Almost Ready!!!
At 8:45 they checked my cervix and I was 8cm, 100%, and -2 station, and my water was bulging. The nurse notified the doctor, and he said he was on his way. At 9:40pm he came in and said I was 10cm, 100% effaced, and still a -2 station, but my water sac was actually hanging out—so he grabbed ahold of it and tried to break it with just his fingers, but needed the amnihook to tear the sac because it was thick. They, the doctor and nurse, went and got all the supplies and told me to practice push to help get her down lower. I pushed through one contraction and was told to stop. We, the nurse, mom, Josh, and I had bets on what time she would come and how much she would weigh. When we did the practice push the nurse said that she would definitely be here before Josh’s guess, which was 10:24pm. Mom’s guess was 10:15pm and my guess was 10:05pm…the nurse said she guessed between 10:05-10:15pm.

Let the Pushing Begin

The doctor came in and got gowned up and gloves on. My mom held my right leg and Josh held my left and at my next contraction they had me push….and her head came out. They had me stop, so they could suction out her mouth and nose, then they told me to grunt with baby pushes. I did that twice then got irritated, so I pushed and out came her shoulders. The doctor said, “well she’s definitely not as big as I thought she would be!”…I got to hold her for much longer than I got to with Gabriel, mainly because I didn’t have postpartum hemorrhaging. As Josh was cutting the cord she sarted peeing all over me and the doctor, which I think is kinda funny because the nurse kinda panicked and started grabbing for towels. After snuggling her and wiping her off, I let the nurse have her to check her over. She weighed 9lb 8.4oz and was 20 inches long. Her head was 14 inch circumference!

For now her nickname is monkey. She is super hairy! She’s got dark black hair on her shoulders, neck, back and ears.. she also has dark black hair—it’s fine on top and thick and long around the back and sides (she’s like an old man haha). She has been nursing like a champ ever since birth, but does have a sensitive tummy and doesn’t handle gas well—but she makes the cutest little puppy dog/pouty face. She is a pretty calm baby though—sleeps for 4-5 hours (for now I know) and only wimpers with gas. She does hate getting an outfit changed or diaper change, but who wants uncovered and made all cold? She does have some differences from Gabe. He was fussy 24 hours after/she isn’t so far, he hated the paci/she LOVES it, he hated being swaddled/SHE ABSOLUTELY LOVES it!!!