Weekend Recap!

Saturday was a busy day getting ready for the baptism/birthday party on Sunday. But the best part of the day was when the Kenyons arrived from Iowa! HOORAY! Cousins to play with!  We had a great visit, played outside, had dinner, fun times.  Daniel wasn’t too sure what to think of Abby. He was very interested in her eyes, though Meg did a great job turning his attention to Abby’s toes.  Really I think he was more concerned with why his Mommy was holding this other baby.

Sunday was busy, but wonderful. Abby’s baptism was beautiful. We chose this weekend to facilitate travel for the Kenyons (an extra day due to the holiday) but also because Chris’ church choir would be able to sing for Mass and Fr. Bob would be able to baptize Abby.  Everything went perfectly and it felt wonderful to be surrounded by so many people who care about Abby: family, friends, and church members.

Back at our house, Chris had everything perfectly planned. We had a yummy lunch and then delicious dessert. Katherine had birthday cupcakes as requested. They even had “Ks” on them – just like she wanted.  The weather cooperated and the kids were able to play outside. At the end of the day they were so worn out, they could barely keep their eyes open to listen to stories with PopPop or watch a little TV for some “down time.”

Monday morning started with Katherine’s birthday surprises! She RAN downstairs hoping she’d find something exciting. She did – a giraffe bean bag chair, a Little People set, and a very cool nightlight that creates stars/constellations on the ceiling. She was THRILLED!

Then, we met the Kenyons at the Milwaukee Zoo. That was awesome. Our family goes to the zoo frequently and the girls love it – but it’s familiar to them. Edward and Daniel hadn’t ever been to “our” zoo, so it was fun to see it from a new perspective. We went early to avoid the crowds and left before it got too busy –and before any of our crew got too hungry or crabby!

We went for lunch together before saying goodbye to the cousins and heading home for naps.  After a busy 3 days we ALL needed it!  It was so fun though – and the girls are already counting the days until we can play with ALL of our cousins in June.

Tuesday morning Katherine and Abby had doctor visits.  Abby weighed 9 pounds 3 ounces,  a gain of 2 pounds in 2 weeks. Obviously the pumping and bottle feeding works for her! Katherine weighed 29 pounds and just for fun we weighed Maggie – 37 pounds! Everyone was declared happy and healthy. We’ll go back in a month for Abby’s 2 month check up and shots.

Here’s a collection of pictures, I wish I had the patience to upload more – so many great shots of cute moments! You’ll get the idea! 

One month old. How did Abby get to be one month old already?  Time flies when you’re having fun – and when you have three children I guess!

So when we left off, all was going well, Everyone was happy and life was good.  That’s all still true. However, Abby’s doctor visit last week threw me for a loop.  She had only gained one ounce in over 2 weeks. It was a mystery – as it appeared she was eating well, wasn’t acting hungry, had good output, was not fussy, slept well – all the indicators of adequate breast feeding. (Including my own weight loss, the calories were certainly going SOMEWHERE!) Clearly something was not right, and after some investigation I discovered that she was not transferring milk. She looked like she was eating well, and seemed satisfied, but by checking her weight before and after breastfeeding, I found that she was barely getting anything.

That was upsetting. I mean, my career as a nurse has been helping other women learn to breast feed. I’ve been giving breast feeding advice for more than 10 years. I’ve fed 2 other children. How did I fail this time? And the milk is there! I can pump it out just fine – why won’t she take it directly from me? And how did I miss it for 2 weeks- and not see that she wasn’t getting anything? I felt HORRIBLE!

But at least we knew the problem and it was an easy fix. She’s more than willing to take a bottle, so we did that for 2 days and she gained 5 ounces. Over the last week she’s gained every day. She loves to eat, and because I’m giving her bottles (of my milk and formula) I can see exactly how much she’s getting. It was a hard few days, but things are much better now.

Really, I didn’t have time to dwell on the issue – things were busy here!  Maggie had

Kindergarten open house and Preschool Graduation this week. I might have been more excited by her Kindergarten than she was. Apparently not all schools look like  my elementary school. Her school is less than 10 years old and looks incredible. She loved meeting her teachers and seeing her classroom. She already knows 2 friends from her preschool – so she felt very comfortable. We also enjoyed a bus ride –honestly that’s why she is excited to go to “big kid school” she wants to ride the bus!

 

Graduation was adorable. She was so proud and the smile on her face lit up the room.  They sang many songs and each child got to walk across the stage and receive a diploma. Cheesy, yes- but really cute too! 

 

Katherine’s excitement for the week was having an early birthday party at  our babysitter’s house. She had to go for the day while we went to Kindergarten, so she celebrated her birthday while she was there. We made cookies to share and all the kids made her birthday cards. It was simple – but she loved it!  She’s looking forward to her birthday next week – all she asks for are balloons – I can handle that! I took this picture of her on the hottest day this week - she just cracks me up!

 

We’re gearing up for a busy weekend. Meg, John, and boys are coming to visit, Abby will be Baptized on Sunday, and we’ll also be celebrating Katherine’s birthday.  So, sometime next week I’m sure there will be stories and pictures to share. But, the way time flies – I’m not sure WHEN it might be!

Another 2 weeks have flown by. The weather has been nicer and it is finally feeling like SPRING!  The big girls are enjoying their time outside and feel that they should be able to go out and play whenever they want – no matter the time of day or temperature outside. (While it IS spring, often the mornings are quite chilly!)

I suppose each sister deserves her own update this week.  Let’s start with Katherine, the poor 

middle child!  She has been acting a bit like the middle child. She is having a hard time with my attention being on Abby so often. She gets frustrated when I can’t jump immediately to help her because I’m feeding Abby, or changing  a diaper. She likes to help me, but doesn’t like it if I can’t help her!  She is always excited when DADDY comes home, because then she KNOWS that she’ll be the center of attention for him. I am working hard to recognize her needs, and spend as much one on one time as I can with her, but I also know that she probably won’t be permanently scarred from this experience!

 One thing I have been doing is reading stories while I’m feeding Abby. It’s a good chance to read stories, and it makes her feel important –even though I’m also feeding Abby (2 birds, 1 stone, Multi-tasking!)  But really, what is even cuter than me reading to Katherine, is having Katherine tell ME the story. She has  a newer book from Gram that is a collection of stories (Hansel and Gretel, Little Red Riding Hood, Goldilocks, etc)  She can tell most of the stories by looking at the pictures, but her interpretation is often a bit creative!

 My favorite is hearing her pretend to be the Witch in Hansel and Gretel. (using a Katherine voice) “Nibb-o, Nibb–o wike a mouse, who is nibb-wing at my cottage?” (Really, if you’ve just learned the vocabulary word “COTTAGE” why bother with rhyming Mouse and House as written?)

Maggie seems more grown up every day. This is her last week of preschool, and she will “Graduate” next Tuesday.  This Friday we’ll spend the morning at Kindergarten Open House,

preparing for next year. How did she get so old already?  She continues to surprise us with her reading ability. Chris and I were talking at dinner about a commercial for a news story that night. Maggie piped up with “The guy from the news isn’t going to be on the news anymore.”  We were both confused, and asked her what she meant.  “That guy from the news, he isn’t going to be on the news anymore, I read it in the newspaper today!”  Sure enough – there HAD been a blurb in the paper about a reporter who was leaving the TV station.  We knew she liked to read the weather page to check the forecast (and to note what time the sunrise/sunset would be) but we had no idea she was reading OTHER parts of the paper! I’m proud of her, but we’ve been keeping the paper out of her reach now – she doesn’t need to be THAT grown up yet!

 

She is LOVING the role of “BIG SISTER” not only is she a huge help with Abby, but she is even more mothering toward Katherine. Some days are better than others – she likes to get a bit bossy. And they certainly have their moments of squabbling.  But overall, it’s quite helpful to be able to ask her to run “errands.”

And what about Abigail?    I’m afraid to say it out loud, but she is still a GREAT baby!  Chris will tell you she sleeps all the time, but really she’s having more awake time as she gets “older.”

  When she’s awake she often has HUGE eyes as if she thinks if she opens them wide enough she’ll be able to process all the craziness around her!  

She’s eating all the time, and is still happy to go with the flow. She hasn’t complained yet about going to and from preschool, or needing to sit in the bouncy seat while we eat our dinner. And she’s still sleeping a nice 4 1/2 hour stretch at night – which is DELIGHTFUL! She cries during diaper changes, or if you wait an extra minute to start a feeding, but that’s about it.

 

So that leaves Mom and Dad. We’re surviving too! It is busy, but so much fun. I have more energy everyday, and it feels GREAT to be able to get back to “normal” activities. I took the girls to the library today and I think it lifted everyone’s mood to get out of the house and take a field trip!  Chris has just one month left of school and I know he’s excited to start the summer schedule – including more time to just be home enjoying the family!

This is a ridiculously long post, so I’ll stop now with just one more picture. Here’s Abby showing us all that sometimes – you just need to stop, relax, and take a power nap!