Finishing out July.. and donating milk!

With Kevin's summer baseball stint over, we finally had a "typical" weekend.

We stopped by the office on Friday afternoon to see Daddy and do a bit of work.

On Saturday, we attended a Ho-down birthday for a 2 year old. We actually got a rare picture of the 3 of us!

Sunday was a biggie.  After church, we met with a momma of 10 week old twins that was accepting a milk donation from me! With all of the issues McKenna and I originally had breastfeeding, I did A LOT of pumping.... and apparently told my body to make enough milk for triplets. Though the suggested "expiration" of frozen breastmilk varies from 6-12 months, I wanted to be conservative and either use or donate this milk before it turned 6 months. Even with keeping an emergency stash for McKenna, I was able to donate 200 ounces to these twins and their momma!

While I was excited to be able to donate, I was emotionally attached to this milk. The struggles and emotions I endure to make that milk and ultimately succeed in establishing a breastfeeding relationship with McKenna were like no other I have experienced in my life.

I played it over and over and over again in my head.  I knew I wanted to donate it, but it really was difficult letting go. I had to remind myself McKenna would not use that milk before it needed to be used. Breastmilk is one of the greatest gifts you can give! I did, however, keep all of my colostrum from the very first few days.... this stuff is what they call Liquid Gold.  People that have never seen breastmilk before would think something's wrong with it. But to us breastfeeding mommas it is BEAUTIFUL!! Since she doesn't really take bottles, We have been chopping up the frozen stuff and stuffing it into the little mesh feeders.

In the car ride on the way home, I was able to catch a glimpse of McKenna's car acrobatics (and a happy smile of course).



I foresee ballet in her future!!

Frilly Photo Shoot

Last weekend Kevin had a baseball tournament AND a special project for work so McKenna and I were pretty much riding solo. As I began to get a little itchy on Sunday morning I decided to dress McKenna up and take some pictures with my "good" camera.  Be prepared, there's gonna be a few.........

 

AND Little Lady ended up in her favorite place in the house at the end of our shoot... her Jumper!

 

Annnd she's mobile.... sorta.

We originally weren't planning on getting McKenna a walker.  I had read about a lot of safety issues in terms of baby being able to reach things before you [the parent] really thinks they're "mobile", tipping, and also them running into furniture and bumping things off.

But when 2 family members offer up nice ones, we absolutely were excited for McKenna to take a "test drive", no pun intended.

Initially she tested both of them out at my parents' house. She really didn't know what to do and was pushing backwards in the cute little pink Cadillac. Even though she wasn't REALLY getting around, you could see a sense of excitement that she was mobile.




But it wasn't until we got one of them home and let her hang out in it for a while did she understand what she could do in it.  Watching her figure it out was such a cool experience.




We put her in it maybe once a day... it is something I think needs very close supervision. Once she got moving she went head on into the TV stand and that totally freaks me out. I don't think she could knock the TV off, but accidents always happen when you don't expect them to happen! (otherwise they wouldn't be "accidents"!)

Watching her learn and have "ah-ha" moments is one of the best experiences of parenthood.

Our brief visit to Tallahassee

We went to Tallahassee to celebrate the marriage of two great friends. It just so happened to also be Fourth of July weekend..... AND McKenna's first trip to the motherland AKA Mommy and Daddy's Alma Mater.

We were also able to visit McKenna's BFFer.

We celebrated some awesome friends.

 

Kevin and I were even able to enjoy the wedding both with and without McKenna.  Kevin's parents met us in Tallahassee to visit....  they allowed us to take McKenna to the wedding for a bit then picked her up once she met everyone.  They said she did great and ended up staying in their room so Kevin and I had the night together. She was just across the hall in case anything happened, but it still felt great to have some one-on-one time and let a little loose.

 

 

 

 

McKenna was a trooper WHILE we were in Tallahassee (I wrote about our On The Road shenanigans while we were on the road ---> here). To finish off that post, the rest of the ride was a nightmare. She wanted out of that thing so bad, and I don't blame her.  It took us NINE hours to get home. NINE! (usually takes under 6). She cried more in the last hour of the trip than she has her entire life combined.  I was tearing up myself.  It was awful.

 

She is so great in new environments... not her typically loud, silly self that she is around the house, but a bit shy and modest yet still sweet.  It was a very short weekend but a very awesome one at that.

Subtle Introduction to Solids

So while we are waiting until after 6 months to officially introduce solids, we have allowed McKenna to test out her taste buds.

She has shown tremendous interest in anything we're eating, she's been sitting upright on her own pretty well (though I need to keep a watchful eye for faceplants), she's lost her tongue thrust reflex, and she's been grabbing things awesomely.

What we have given her are large items to gnaw on... Initially I let her taste apple out of my hand once, I let her have an apple slice another time, and now she gets celery sticks every time we eat dinner. I've read that celery has soothing elements (hence why it tastes "cool" when you eat it), so I thought that would be something great to let her suck on while she's teething.




She loves the tastes and she loves discovering everything... I cannot wait for her to start trying food! Until then, she's enjoying her celery!

Chief Osceola's Night Out.

I don't even like posting this story, but need a place to let it out.

We had quite a disturbing experience two mornings ago when McKenna woke us up at 5am to nurse. I think this was one of those wake-up calls that, Wow, we really have been neglecting our poor boys (and for those that don't know me, I don't actually mean neglect, I mean not treating them like the babies we did before our, well, baby).

Normally when it's early in the morning Chief Osceola is raring and ready to go for the day when the rest of us have plans to go back to bed.  On my way to McKenna's Nursery I noticed that he wasn't tagging along, or anticipating my arrival as I moved through the house. I was thinking, "aww that's sweet, he must be sleeping in McKenna's room" even though he's not allowed in there. Nope. So I kinda did a more thorough search while holding McKenna, to no avail.

At this point I check places I already knew he wouldn't be, like the guest bedroom or closets, so I woke Kevin up in a bit of a panic. We both started doing the panicked hurry running around the house. Kevin, with his distinctive tone "where's my dog?" (because Chief Osceola is still his puppy to him... it's alright, Chief is still my puppy to me). Chief Osceola suffers from sporadic seizures, so that panicked feeling is all too familiar.

Kevin started to open the blinds to go out on the back porch as I went out the front door. Lo and behold, I didn't even have the screen door opened for a millisecond when I was consumed by a cold, wet golden retriever. The four of us (Me, Kevin, Chief, & Chief Osceola) rolled around for a few minutes on the front rug in a frenzy.

How could we let this happen?!! How could we be such awful parents? Chief Osceola has a tendency to think that when a door opens, it's his opportunity to frolic and play in the yard. But our dogs never stay out without us. And we don't have a fence. Kevin and I were having a disagreement when he opened the garage and took the trash out around 9PM. This was the only and last opportunity for Chief Osceola to slide out. In the tension filled house, we both were in bed, backs facing one another, and sleeping before 10PM. There's no excuse, though. How did we not do a headcount? Chief Osceola's movement is always so prominent.

The sprinklers had been on so he was soaked. Kevin later noticed that there were muddy paw prints at Every. Single. Car. Door, even the car he's never ridden in... that was the dagger. If you know Chief Osceola's personality, he can be pretty intense, overly-excited, and happy. He gets fixated on something and won't forget about it. He also doesn't like being away from people. [Think: Stewie from Family Guy].




So we know good and well he spent the entire EIGHT hours outside trying to get back in. I can tell you one thing for sure, he wasn't laying down when I opened the front screen door.

I felt angry with Black Chief.  He's so intuitive, he always lets us know when something is wrong or off. I spent a little while that morning crying, wondering how we've gotten to the point where our Fur Babies have become Dogs. It's made me sad, but has also brought me to the realization that we need to spend more time loving on them. They were our babies before we even met! I can't fathom how we did it. We were so selfish and too preoccupied with ourselves our poor pup suffered.  Let me tell you he has been given some love the last couple of days.

Let's let on a positive note.... a girl with her puppy.

Semi-assisted sitting up

Just out of nowhere last week McKenna decided to put her core muscles to use. Her first official sitting on her own picture!

(Picture taken July 3rd, 2014 -- wish the picture came out better!)

She's been sitting with the help of the Boppy for a week or so:




When I say semi-assisted sitting up, I mean that she has been sitting on her own, with the occasion tap or hand holding to keep steady... there is a lot of rolling on her side and back. I've been calling her Rollie-Pollie a lot lately.




I just cannot resist a baby that flops around without a care!!!! That was the first video I caught of her sitting. Now she's been sitting up regularly with the drunken wobble.

We've been spending a good amount of time practicing sitting, and she loves it!

This picture is from this last weekend in Tallahassee, and I will share some pictures of the weekend soon!

Car trip home from Tally-ho!

I plan to write a post about our holiday weeked in Tallahassee, but in the meantime, I am stuck in the backseat of a car with a frustrated baby for the better part of a day. So this is a LIVE post! 

Nothing like taking 2 hours and 15 minutes to get 90 miles (for those that are familiar with the Tallahassee trek, that's how long it has taken to get from Tallahassee to I-75).

In order to curb some of the fussiness we stop often to let her nurse and stretch out. We usually park in hotel parking lots, which often don't have as many people coming and going. 

We turn on some Disney cartoons and take a break from the road. 

Here is just some of the fun on our first stop. 

Daddy is beginning to use this down time to catch a few Zzzzz's 

He fell asleep with his eyes on McKenna (mirror at her angle). 

And I'm gonna shoot it straight. She was happy until we put her back in the carseat, so I pacified her the best way I know. 

Yes, I am nursing her strapped in her car seat. I can't tell you how uncomfortable this is, but baby is now sleeping and we are able to get some miles behind us peacefully. 

**Car is in park and NOT moving. This is very dangerous in a moving vehicle**

We're willing to throw the "rule book" out the window while traveling in order to make for the happiest baby possible in the given circumstances. Here's to a 5.5-6 hour trip taking 8 hours. Cheers. 

FIVE months old!

I can't believe how fast this tiny little human is growing.

She weighs just at 16 pounds, little chunk!  She's still in size 2 diapers, though we're also giving cloth diapers a try! She's popping out of most of her 3 month clothes (that I likely should have moved up a size quite some time ago). Momma is having a hard time not keeping every article of clothing. She's still experiencing some cradle cap, but I've decided to just let it go on it's own . She still LOVES bathtime and actually HATES having to get out and get pjs on. She loves watching her Pups, even if they are just walking by.

She is such a happy baby, it would almost be easier to list things she didn't like than things she does like. I guess the only thing that would be on that list is Tummy Time.  It's tolerable to her, so long as her Brother Boogs is there to entertain. She moves around more in her crib than she does during playtime on the ground.  She LOVES when Mommy belts out and dances to Disney songs... little does she know Mommy does that for herself and her viewing pleasure is only an added benefit. She loves giving open-mouth kisses and sticking out her tongue. She also likes the taste of her feet, hands, fingers, and anything else that comes in contact with her hands. Her mission in life seems to be to taste everything!

In the last couple of days she has been finding new sounds, I've heard some naa-naa's and some laa-laa's. Usually this is all accompanied by streams and streams of drool. Squealing has become her favorite form of communication, however. Basically, when she's awake, you know it!

She LOVES spending time in the jumper, and loves sitting in her high chair at the table while we eat dinner. She LOVES peek-a-boo, and you can tell that she is anticipating the surprise now.

She has been starting to wake up once a night to eat, which is a new occurrence likely to blame on teething. She is also becoming a multi-tasker while she nurses.... she likes to punch Mommy, kick her legs, and try and look around all while eating!

And this is how the 5 month photo session went. 

Teething has been WELLLLL under way and this Little One's personality is really beginning to shine.