Meeting More Family

When I heard the news about Jarod being sick I felt like I needed to get out there right away and just be with my family during this hard time. I booked my ticket and headed out the next week which was last weekend. I was so excited to take Kenleigh to meet her Grandpa, Uncle Jarod, & Aunt Lindsey for the first time. I’m terrified of flying and new it would be even worse with Kenleigh. Luckily she really did distract me and it wasn’t so bad! We flew in on Saturday and went straight to Jarod and Lindsey’s for dinner. It was really good to hang out and spend time with everyone. It made it a little better and a little worse for me to see Jarod. Just knowing what he’s going through (not really knowing but imagining) breaks my heart. I really had to hold back the tears. It did help though to see that he’s the same old Jarod. If anything, this reminds me how close we were in high school and we won’t ever lose that bond we had. Before Zach Jarod was my best friend. Sunday we hung out at my parents for a while in the morning and then drove back in to Atlanta to spend a few hours with Jarod and Lindsey again. Our friend from high school Aisha brought everyone lunch. It was wonderful to see her. I try to see her every time I make it out to Atlanta. It isn’t enough but it’s a good start. Thanks Ish, for lunch! We found out that day that Kenleigh apparently is a dog lover. It took both Kenleigh and Jarod’s dog Georgia to warm up to each other but when they did it was so sweet. Monday my mom went with Jarod, Lindsey, and Lindsey’s mom, Janice to some of Jarod’s doctors’ appointments. They went really well and they were able to get a good idea of what’s ahead. Dad’s work got rained out so it was a good time for him and me to spend some time together. We never really get to do that. Dad always thinks I’m there for mom so he just hangs out while we do all our bonding. We talked for a long time and I have to say it was pretty nice. I mean I could have done without most of it but some was nice…well not necessarily some but… Yeah, I missed mama! Ha ha, just kidding daddio! Monday night I had just put Kenleigh to bed and we decided we wanted some ice cream from Dairy Queen (this will be a theme in all my blog posts after leaving Georgia). I put dad in charge of Kenleigh while mama and I went for ice cream. I tried to give him direction in case Kenleigh woke up before we returned. He said he wanted none of it. Okay then, if you say so. We got home and dad had Kenleigh downstairs in as much light as possible completely un-swaddled and she loved it. I on the other hand about lost it. All that work to get her to sleep and he probably just needed to throw the binki in her mouth and she would have been right back to bed. I really was happy to see that they got their moment actually. She really loves her grandpa! He really loves her too. Tuesday we woke up and headed right over to Jarod’s to see him one last time before my flight left. It was really hard to say goodbye. I really miss being out there but my home is here and I’ve gotten rather used to it. We then went to lunch and headed back to the airport. I was happy to be heading home because Kenleigh and I really missed Zach so the goodbyes were bitter sweet. Hopefully we’ll get to make it back out there before the year passes us by!

6 Months Stats!

I forgot to post Kenleigh’s six month stats on here. She went to the pediatrician just after she turned 6 months old. She’s really starting to grow. She was 14.8 lbs. (40^th %), 26.7” long (95^th %), and her head is 16.7” (70^th %). Her doctor said she was tall, skinny, & smart. We’ll take it!

Prayers Please

If you're reading my blog then I'd love to request prayers from you, your family, and your friends. My brother Jarod was just diagnosed with testicular cancer. He's such a fighter and he'll get through this with his family and friends behind him. He has a road to recovery but knowing my brother he'll make the most of it and find the blessings along the way. please go to my sister-in-law Lindsey's blog for all the details. She'll keep it up to date for anyone who wants to follow it.

http://jarodandlindsey.blogspot.com/2010/03/rollercoaster-week.html

6 Months Old!

Kenleigh turned 6 months old this last Monday. I guess she really only gets a real half birthday on Leap year so we had to go March 1^st this year. I thought Kenleigh changed a lot over her fifth month but apparently change is going to start coming faster and faster. This month flew by and Kenleigh is growing right before our eyes. She has her 6 month appointment on Monday so we’ll see how much she has actually grown then. Kmae had a rough couple weeks this month too. She caught a stomach bug and bronchilitus and ended up in the hospital for a night to get re-hydrated and other fun stuff. She’s better than ever now though. She’s moving like crazy, though not yet showing any signs of crawling. She scoots backwards which is so cute. We just lay her on the floor and seconds later I swear she is across the room. I made a ton of homemade baby food this month so we had some yummy food for when she was ready for solids. I was really letting her tell us when she was ready. We started last week and she’s done really well. Though, I swear it’s making her sleep worse. I stopped a couple days ago to see if my suspicions were justified and I say they are. I know the doc will make us start on Monday though. We think she is teething but have yet to see any tooth buds. Other fun changes are below.

• She is getting close to sitting on her own. She gets too distracted and falls over still though.
• She loves to have her feet free so she can play with her feet…she tries to get them in her mouth.
• She loves necklaces, mom’s hair, tags, remotes, cell phones, and garbage.
• She belly laughs a lot more. It melts me.
• She has started reaching for people when she wants you. Also my favorite when she reaches for me.
• She growls at her binki all the time. It’s in her hand getting growled at more than it’s in her mouth.
• She still loves her baths – it’s a fun time for the three of us.
• Her eyes are green! Just what we were hoping for!

5 Months Old!

Another month has come and gone. Kenleigh is getting so big. This month has been so much fun. I’m sad to see it go so quickly! It’s been amazing to watch how quick Kenleigh is learning new things. Kenleigh still has really bad acid reflux. She was diagnosed last weekend with chronic reflux. Whatever that means. She still struggles from time to time eating her bottles. She now has a ton of phloem in her chest. The doctor says it’s all part of the reflux. She coughs a lot because of all the phloem and seems congested often. Apparently it’s all related. Poor girlie. She’s on Zantac twice a day and Prevacid once. We haven’t noticed a difference since she started Prevacid. We’ll give it a month and if no change we’ll take her back off. Below are more fun milestones.

• She rolls from front to back and back to front all the time. We used to have to entice her with toys to get her to roll on to her tummy but now she just does it. Sometimes she does a full 360 but usually surprises herself when she does.
• She’s holding all her toys really good now and she definitely has some favorites. I’m a complete sucker and buy her several new toys a week.
• She loves to stand. She does really well in her exersaucer.
• Now everything she picks up has to go in her mouth for a taste test…even mom’s hair!
• Just today she finally ate some rice cereal without spitting it all back up. She did really well. We gave her a half tablespoon for dinner and it was just enough. She’s still really small so we’ll see if the extra calories makes her put on the weight or not.
• She babbles non-stop. She has picked up yelling in fact. Now when she is mad she doesn’t resort right to crying. She first yells to get her point across…if that doesn’t work then bring on the tears.
• She started doing a new thing where she sucks her bottom lip in then spits it out over and over.
• I have a feeling the binki will be going away soon. She never keeps it in her mouth very long. When she does have it in she’s always taking it out to play with it and can’t figure out how to get it back.
• She is getting more and more hair and it seems to be staying red.
• Her eyes are officially GREEN. So cute!
  

Kenleigh in her exersaucer. She is wearing her little camo outfit from Grandpa! She loves it.

Four Month Appointment and More!

Munchkin had her four month appointment on Monday. We weighs 12.9 oz. (25^th percentile), 24” long (50^th percentile), and her head circumference is 41.1 cm. (50^th percentile). Still a little long and lean but all in all very little. Her pediatrician said it was just fine though and she is within normal range. He said we could start solids anytime now. He mentioned it could help with her reflux. Not necessarily looking forward to that stage so I haven’t started yet. I lie, we did try rice cereal a couple nights ago. We literally couldn’t get it in her mouth. Guess she isn’t ready. Her reflux is still pretty bad – doc did up her Zantac prescription and it has helped.

Today Kenleigh woke up from what is normally a three hour nap after only 30 minutes and started screaming. It was a cry of pain I just couldn’t pin point her pain. She cried literally non-stop for an hour and a half…we both cried for some of it. I knew she wasn’t hungry, her diaper was changed, she was tired but she’s never had a problem falling asleep even if I don’t stay on top of the nap. It was a cry to tell me she was in some sort of pain. At least that’s what it seemed like. My heart broke the entire time; I cried with her because I didn’t know how to make her better and that killed me. My sister Cori mentioned she thought KMae might be teething. I don’t see anything at all. I always thought 4 months was a little early. She doesn’t have swollen gums or anything. She does have a few other symptoms but who knows. So taking Cori’s advice I gave KMae some origel. She stopped crying within seconds and continued her 3 hour nap. So sad. I’m not sure if she is teething or not but I certainly hate thinking she’s in pain.

The picture below is for my dad. It’s her 3 month appointment after she got her shots. The nurse gave her a hot pink camo band-aid! I knew dad would love it. The last pictures are some porcelain shoes my really good friend Sue made for Kenleigh. They have her name, birth date, and birth stats on them. They are in the color of her nursery. Sooooo freaking adorable! The rest are just some cute pictures!

Pink Camo Band-aid! I can't imagine her any cuter! Loves getting baths Liker her daddy, turns blue when she's cold! AMAZING!!!

Happy New Year

I can’t say I’m sad to see 2009 go because I’m anxious to see what’s in store for 2010. I can’t imagine our life slowing down at this point. 2009 was definitely the best year of my life. It was very good to us. I can’t say that pregnancy was really my thing but I can say that what followed definitely was. Kenleigh has been a huge blessing in our lives. She makes every day one trillion times better than ever before; and we had a good life before. It’s now just that much better! I hope for 2010 I can be pregnant again and --- NO WAY…totally kidding! I really do hope that we can just continue learning about our little girl, remain in good health, and in good jobs! Happy New Year!