Holidays always bring sickness!

Ever since I was young, I always got sick on holidays or any time off from school, college, or work! I guess as hard as I push myself, the time I have to rest leads to illness. Go figure! The past four days (November 16th - 19th) I have yet to sleep well at night. This morning, Friday morning, I woke up with a sore throat after having a consistent headache for 2 straight days! I called our primary doctor, but they wouldn't see me today since I was a "new" patient. Won't I always be new to them until they see me?!?! Anyways.... Kelly came home from work around 3:00pm so I could go to Urgent Care. I didn't want to take Kaitlynn with me - especially since there might be a lot of sick people around in the same small area. Kelly came home and watched our baby girl while I headed off to the doctor. Thankfully what I had was only viral. The doctor I saw at Urgent Care gave me 2 prescriptions, but asked me to wait until after the weekend to fill them. She mentioned that if things continued and didn't get better, that it wasn't just viral.

Friday not only proved to be a "yucky" day for me, but it was also Kaitlynn's 3-month b.day! Kaitlynn experienced a first on this day as well. She slept from 7:30pm - 6:30am without waking up! Around 3:30am when Kaitlynn would have normally gotten up to eat, there was no sound of crying heard..... Me being my normal self, got up and checked on her to make sure everything was okay! Yes, I made sure she was breathing - who wouldn't?! She was sound asleep, so I headed back to bed.... or at least tried - still wasn't feeling well. Anyways, Kelly & I were beside ourselves with excitement when Kaitlynn finally woke up around 6:30am! I wondered what it would feel like to have her sleep an entire evening..... it felt GREAT! Now.... can she do it out of town at Nana & Papa's house?? We'll see!! :)

Getting ready to go to Nana & Papa's house for Thanksgiving!

We packed up and headed to Hayesville early Saturday morning for Thanksgiving! We left around 7:30am so Kaitlynn would sleep on our drive up. She did great and was well-rested for some visiting time with her Nana once we arrived! She did great staying on her routine and everyone helped Kelly & I keep her on her routine! She took several naps in the pack-in-play, and went down for bed around 7:30pm! She ended up sleeping all night again until 6:30am. She was able to have some quality time with her Papa early Sunday morning, and then her Nana put her to sleep for us before we moved her into the pack-in-play.

Backing up a little..... Saturday at noon, we headed over to Kevin & Kelly's home for Madison 7th birthday party! This was Kaitlynn's first birthday party and it went very smoothly! We were able to introduce our daughter to some of Kelly's extended family such as Brian & Amy, and Jason. Laurie had already met Kaitlynn when she came down to Atlanta for a shopping trip with her mom, Penny! The birthday party was a lot of fun and it was great seeing Madison have such a good time with all her friends & family.

Saturday evening, Kevin, Kelly, the girls, and Kristin came over to the house for our Thanksgiving meal. It was fabulous! We had so much good food & dessert :) Unfortunately we didn't get to see Shea this trip as he was out of town! We definitely are looking forward to seeing him over the Christmas holiday!

Sunday morning rolled around and we got Kaitlynn all dressed up for her first church outing! We have wanted to take her to our home church for several weeks now, but things always have come up and we haven't gotten there yet. We have plans to go next Sunday though! Anyways.... our "easy" trip turned into fussing & nap time :) Kaitlynn didn't nap long Sunday morning, which resulted in her needing a nap about 15 minutes after church started! Since we haven't put her in the nursery yet and don't plan on starting until March/April - after flu season - we went and rocked Kaitlynn to sleep ourselves. Thankfully we were able to hear the sermon through speakers in the room!

The weekend was so relaxing and enjoyable! We thoroughly enjoyed our time with family in Hayesville for Thanksgiving!

As we got home, I questioned Kelly as to if he thought Kaitlynn would sleep well after our weekend away! Well, the results are in..... she went down at 8:00pm and slept until 6:45am! This makes 3 nights in-a-row now that she has slept all night long! We're going to get so spoiled to getting the rest we need and then something will change! HAHA. We're definitely so proud of our daughter for this huge accomplishment!

Kaitlynn and I headed over to Andrea's house on Monday to visit with some of my old Sweet Apple co-workers who are all mothers now! It was wonderful seeing Lundy, Michelle, Michelle, and Andrea today! Kaitlynn did great - took a cat nap while we were there. All the kids ran around and played the entire time while the moms visited with Kaitlynn. Everyone loves babies!!

Monday morning & afternoon were the last of my "normal" days for a bit. When Monday evening rolled around, the sickness that I had experience over the past week took a toll for the worse! I was up from 1am-7am Tuesday morning - sick as a dog - in the bathroom! Kelly felt terrible because there was nothing he could do to help me. We both got very little sleep in between my extremely frequent bathroom visits. Thankfully, Kaitlynn slept the entire night again - 8:00pm-7:00am so we didn't have to deal with her during my episodes. Obviously I couldn't take care of Kaitlynn on Tuesday, so Kelly worked from home and took care of our daughter while I slept all day.

Tuesday night rolled around and my fever rose to 100.2 - the highest it's been in years. I forced myself to eat a piece of toast and some jello, took some tylenol and headed to bed around 8:00pm. Thankfully I was able to sleep all night, but Kaitlynn got up twice during the night because of a "stuffy" nose! Kelly was wonderful and got up with her both times - didn't say a word to me so I could sleep.

Wednesday proved to be a much easier day for myself. However, we weren't sure if I was well enough to take care of Kaitlynn all day by myself, so Kelly stayed home again. Since I had a high fever last night, we wanted to give it 24 hours without a fever before I handled Kaitlynn alone. There is no reason to risk anything with a 3-month old!

My dad stopped by to see us, see how I was doing and have some play-time with Kaitlynn. Not feeling her best, she did show her fussy side for him :) but calmed down for a while so he could play with her in her play-place. She finally showed off her cute side with lots of squeals, laughs, and coos. She also showed him how well she's doing at batting objects, and grabbing & holding onto things!

I spent the rest of the day resting as much as possible. We're hoping to get to Greenville tomorrow afternoon to at least spend some time with my mom for a few days if no one else!

We're hoping everyone has a fantastic Thanksgiving with family and friends!

Only 7oz.?? Wow!

November 12th, 2009:

Kaitlynn is 12 weeks old

My dad's birthday

It's hard to believe that this time next week (November 20th), Kaitlynn will be 3 months old! This new weeks with our daughter started out fabulous!! Kaitlynn took a 2.5 hour morning nap before we headed to lunch with Angi & Janet. It was wonderful to get out of the house and have lunch with two great women! Kaitlynn did well and enjoyed the company too :) However, she got a little tired over lunch and passed out in my lap. Check it out!

Once Kelly came in from work, we spent some time relaxing, cooking dinner, and working out on our treadmill. Here are a few updated pictures of our family!

Our baby girl!

Kelly and our baby girl!

Willa Grace loves to lay on pillows!!

*Precious*

Kaitlynn doesn't lay on our chest much these days.

Kelly was in HEAVEN!

Friday was one of our "abnormal" days! I put Kaitlynn down for her morning nap, which lasted 20 minutes. Thirty minutes later, I put her down again for it to only last 30 minutes! Let's just say, Friday evening was a LONG evening. I don't think I can say it enough.... her morning nap does wonders for her attitude and how she feels the rest of the day! I contemplated going to the MOMS club meeting since Kaitlynn didn't get her nap this morning, but I decided to go anyways! It was our first time going to the monthly meeting at Smyrna First Baptist Church. There were 7 ladies at this particular monthly meeting and all of them were extremely nice. Smyrna Fire Department came to the meeting for an Infant/Child CPR refresher! Since I had Kaitlynn with me, and just took the Infant CPR course with Northside Hospital, I just sat back and listened. It worked out well since Kaitlynn took a nap while we were there..... in my lap!

My dad was able to stop by this afternoon as well. It had been several weeks since we had seen him - schedule conflicts pretty much! He picked right back up on the grandpa role as soon as he walked through the door. Kaitlynn was in her play-place played, so my dad got down on the floor and just talked to her for a while. It was precious! He had some time where he got to hold her as well as take her for a walk around our complex! It was a beautiful day, so it was nice to get outside with my dad, Kaitlynn, & Willa Grace. After my dad left, I spent the rest of the afternoon trying to help Kaitlynn to rest since she missed out on her morning nap. She was pretty good for the most part until 5:00pm hit. That must be the "witches" hour, because that's exactly when she got extremely fussy. Thankfully, Kelly was able to get her down in her crib around 7:30pm. She is doing GREAT these days with her night-time sleep. She ate around 7:00pm, went down by 7:30pm... slept until 1:00am (that's 6 hours between feedings!).... slept until 4:30am (4.5 hours between feedings), then slept until 7:30am Saturday morning! Again, she has the night-time thing down great!

Time with Grandpa Watson

Outside for a stroll with Grandpa Watson

Once my dad took Kaitlynn back inside, I went with Willa Grace

around the complex one more time. She found this small scarecrow that

she was terrified of.... I made her attempt to get close again while I

tried to snap a picture :)

Saturday morning started off well. Kaitlynn was up around 7:30am, went down for her morning nap around 8:45am - stayed asleep for 40 minutes, was up for 10 minutes, and went back down for 30 minutes. When she has an "off" day and doesn't nap, it usually takes a day or so to get back into the swing of things. She definitely napped much better this morning than yesterday, so we're moving in the right direction! Thankfully.... we tried Kaitlynn's nap again around 12:30pm. She ended up sleeping for 2 hours! Hopefully we'll be back on track tomorrow with her morning nap.

Saturday afternoon it was absolutely gorgeous outside. After Kaitlynn woke up, we headed to the Taylor-Brawner Park across the street from our home. This was Kaitlynn's first trip to the park! It's a great park for kids - very spacious. There were lots of children running around, parents spending time together, and dogs playing with their owners. We did take Willa Grace with us as well. I have no idea how many light posts she stopped to sniff during our stroll through the park. I think that was the main "bathroom" stop for most dogs! HA!

Sunday was a very restful day! It was also Kaitlynn's first time wearing a bow in her hair! I know both grandmother's are very proud of this big moment :) After many questions of why I haven't found any bows yet, I found some at Target that work perfect in her hair! Everyone should be proud - with as much hair as Kaitlynn has, she now has bows to accessorize. Before Jenny McNair came to our home to take some extra pictures of Kaitlynn, we headed to lunch at Zucca. It's one of the restaurants at the famous Smyrna Market Village. We were able to sit outside and eat for the first time with Kaitlynn. There was plenty of shaded areas to keep the sun out of her face! We couldn't resist being outside with how beautiful the day turned out to be. The rest of our day before and after Kaitlynn's photo-shoot at the house, was spent watching football - does that surprise anyone?? :)

My mom came into town on Monday around 11:00am! I was trying to get Kaitlynn down all morning long for her nap..... she finally slept in her crib for about 45 minutes around noon. Thank goodness! For some reason, the past few days, our daughter has had a small appetite, and a lack of morning naps! We are working with her until she gets back into the swing of things! Persistence!

I headed out once Kaitlynn was down to pick up lunch for my mom and I. It was pretty funny - I ran into Kelly and some of his co-workers at US Cafe! I was completely shocked when I walked in and saw my husband eating lunch. It was so weird! It was very good to see him though.

After lunch, we headed to the Taylor-Brawner Park across the street. It was so beautiful outside that we took Willa and Kaitlynn to the park for about an hour.

They even had a dog fountain at the park!!

Tuesday proved to be a much better day for Kaitlynn! First of all, she went 8 hoursbetween her first night time feedings last night! She ate at 7:00pm, went to bed at 8:00pm and didn't get up until 3:00am - we have to note, this was NOT her rice cereal bottle either, just our baby girl's tummy holding out for us so we could get lots of sleep :) Once she woke up at 3:00am, we knew she would be hungry so that was when we added rice cereal to her bottle - to give her a little extra on her tummy. She then went from 3:00am-6:30am before she was up for the morning!

We decided to try waiting a bit longer this morning before putting her down for her morning nap. Since she has started sleeping anywhere from 5-8 hours the first part of the night, we thought she might not be tired as quickly after getting up in the morning! We kept things very calm, non-stimulating this morning - laid her on the couch so she could kick, stretch, and "coo" a bit. She finally went down in her crib for her morning nap at 8:00am and slept for an hour! We were so proud of her. We'll definitely try waiting a bit longer in the mornings before putting her back down to see if that's the reason she's missed her nap the past few days.

Anyone else proud of our baby girl for the 8-hours that she went between her 1st night-time feedings?? WOW!

Kelly was so proud of our baby girl! I couldn't resist

a picture before he left for work!

After being up for about 1.5 hours this morning, she was ready for a short cat nap. We let her sleep a bit before heading out and running a few errands this morning.

Diaper change at Publix with Nanabug,

and trying out our baby carrier!!

We were planning on taking Kaitlynn to the PED this afternoon solely for a weigh-in so I'd know how much she has gained over the past month. Well, we ended up calling in for an appointment - Kaitlynn was having a few small issues that we'll keep in the "hush-hush." We had an appointment with Dr. Hassel at 1:45pm - things checked out fine and we got her stats......

Weight - 10lbs. 7oz.

Height - 22.8 inches

Now.... I am sure some of you are just as surprised as I am..... a month ago, Kaitlynn weight 10lbs. and was 21.6 inches long. A month later, today, she weighed only 7oz. more, but grew a good bit in length! She told us that her growth was completely normal with her charts - being around the 20-25% for weight and height. We do have a VERY active daughter, which is where all of her calories are being used instead of being stored as fat! We got great news that she's doing well developmentally, which made me thrilled. Can't wait to see how quickly she picks up on new things over these next months!

Dr. Hassel did ask how much formula Kaitlynn was taking - I simply told her anywhere from 2-3oz. per feeding. I found out that she's a "snacker" and a "cat napper." Oh the joys of an active 3-month old! :) She explained to me that it's VERY normal for babies to be snackers, and cat nappers. As long as they're resting, eating, and growing - things are good! Every baby is different and that's all we need to keep in mind. However, she did suggest that we stop giving Kaitlynn rice cereal. It isn't helping extend her night-time sleep.... she's doing that on formula alone. She mentioned that adding rice cereal can affect the amount she eats during the day because the cereal expands and takes up so much space in her tummy. So, we're stopping the rice cereal to give Kaitlynn a chance to pick up her eating habits with just the formula alone! Can't wait to see what this trial & error game does for our daughter!

At the Pediatrician - smiling at Dr. Hassel!

My mom headed out around 10:30am Wednesday morning. We're looking forward to seeing her again, and the rest of my family, next week for Thanksgiving! Once my mom left, Kaitlynn and I headed out as well. We had our first playgroup date with Little Tikes - part of MOMS Club. There are 4 women with babies until 1-year. It was so nice getting together with them! Always nice to get out of the house for a little bit!! I'm looking forward to our weekly playgroup together and other chances to spend time with other moms!

Wednesday afternoon was spent playing, and nap-taking. Kaitlynn still only lasts about an hour during wake-time! She goes down for a nap in her crib anywhere from 30 minutes - 1 hour during the afternoon/evening hours. She's such a squirmy booger that she wears herself out pretty quickly! She ended up taking three seperate 45-minute naps in her crib in the afternoon!

Wednesday night, I headed out for MOMS Night Out with some of the ladies in our MOMS Club. We met at Muss & Turner's for dinner and drinks. It was wonderful going out with other moms to socialize without our children. As much as we all love doing things with our babies, it's great getting together with other adult women without them every now and then! I have to admit.... I felt a little guilty getting out of the house on a weeknight and leaving Kelly & Kaitlynn at home.... BUT, Kelly insisted and I was looking forward to going, so I went and had such a good time! A huge thanks goes out to my wonderful husband!

An update on eating without the cereal??

Wednesday was also our first full day off of rice cereal. Her formula feedings picked up again - each meal since late Tuesday night she has taken between 3 - 3.5oz. Exactly what we wanted to see happen! We're definitely sticking with just formula for a good while these days.

Routine Update??

One thing we're learning is that routines always change! The main thing is to be consistent with how you handle things. Kaitlynn has been sleeping more at one time during the evening hours, which has started postponing her morning nap. We were putting her down about 30-40 minutes after she woke up, but now it's more around 1 hour - 1.25 hours that she goes back down. We just continue to watch for her sleepy signs and then quickly get to the nursery, calm her down if fussy, rock her for about 10 minutes and then put her in the crib! While she is awake in the morning before her morning nap, we still keep things very calm and non-stimulating - we simply let her lay on her back, talk to her, and let her wiggle a little bit. That's pretty much all she does until after she has her morning nap! Again, consistency - our process hasn't changed, just the time frame!

She's doing much better about taking her cat naps in the crib! She is still only awake for about 1 hour - 1.25 hours before she starts getting sleepy. We have started taking her into the nursery during every nap session, calming her down, rocking her for 10 minutes or so and then get her into the crib. Her cat naps will range anywhere from 30 minutes - 1 hour at a time. I'll take what I can get - I am just so excited that we're able to get her down in the crib! That has been one of our biggest goals and we seem to have gotten Kaitlynn adjusted to it!

A few of Kaitlynn's FAVORITES right now?? She loves morning time with daddy before he leaves for work..... loves to play in her playplace and to be in her swing! She's beginning to learn to enjoy her bouncer!! She loves to bounce on our knees.... to "coo" back and forth with us....to "laugh".....to sit in our lap with her back against us so she can see everything.... to lay on the couch and stretch..... to lay on her back and kick..... and to eat her hands!

Lastly..... does anyone else think this holiday season has come a bit quick this year?? Maybe for Kelly and I it seems that way since we were pregnant, and had a baby! The past three months for us have been such a blur. Kelly and I have yet to start any of the famous "Christmas" shopping! I guess that is mostly my job since I'm at home :) We have spent some time thinking about how we'd like to celebrate Christmas amongst ourselves though!! In a few weeks, I'll let everyone in on what we're doing special this holiday season! We're so excited about it.

Looking forward to....

Tomorrow - Kaitlynn turns 3-months!

This weekend - Thanksgiving in Hayesville

Monday - playdate with old Sweet Apple ES co-workers

Wednesday - MOMS playgroup

Thursday - head to Greenville for Thanksgiving

Until next week........