Day 63 - Getting close

Well - I'm getting close to going back to work. I must say that this time around, maternity leave was MUCH more difficult - even though I wasn't a first time mom. Having a 2 year old with such an independent personality and a new baby was a combination that I wasn't prepared for. I don't think Brad was prepared for it either. It hasn't been easy...but on the flip side - it hasn't been completely HORRIBLE!

I remember with Allie - after my mom left us for a few months...I was so overwhelmed. I was so unbelievably proud of myself when I was alone for the first time and had dinner waiting for Brad when he got home! I felt such a sense of accomplishment. I laugh now when I think back to that time...especially today as I was cooking dinner, tending to the baby, helping Allie go potty and helping Lando go outside! I was doing all of those things without even thinking about it and although it took me a moment...I realized how far I've come!!

So since I'll be going back to work next week - I took the real camera out for a change and took a few pictures.

She was sleeping so peacefully...

And then she had to stick her hand in her mouth...
This was taken with my iPhone...her feet are so funny to me!!

Day 62 - My second Snuggle Bunny

I hate doing this...but I LOVE doing this....

Of course, poor Kaiya has a ton of hand me downs. I've bought a few outfits for her here or there...but there are boxes and boxes of clothes in her closet just waiting for her to grow in to them. All froIm her big sister and all pretty much brand new. So yes - she wears mostly the same things that Allie wears. And since we have a blog of each day of Allie...so I really can't help post pictures side by side...I can't. Don't hate me...

Kaiya

Allie

The funny thing is that Allie was wearing this outfit at Day 27 and poor Kaiya is just now fitting into it!!

Brad and I were chatting the other day about how we can't remember how old Allie was when she starting hitting her milestones, like holding her head up or smiling...and it made me smile because I COULD remember...all I have to do is pull up her blog and look it up! I am so glad that I did this with Allie and am attempting to keep it up with Kaiya!! It is a pain in the rear end, but it is so worth it later on down the road!

Day 61 - Before and After

Kaiya loves sucking her thumb....or fist. She hasn't gotten proficient at getting just her thumb, so she's pretty happy to suck on her fist...

She doesn't always take a pacifier - I'm not a fan of giving one to her, but I'd rather her suck on that than her hand...so at sleep time, I'll swaddle her VERY tight....and try to give her a paci...

This particular day...she was good with taking the paci...

Here's a before picture of how I left her...

And here's a few minutes later. I was happy that she still had her paci in, but a few minutes later...she had her hand in her mouth....
This kid cracks me up...

Day 60-I can't get enough of those smiles...

Yes...I will post these as long as she keeps dishing them out in front of a camera...or in this case - iPhone!!

Day 59 - First Playdate

I met Julie and her husband Scott at K2 The Church. I love that church. I love the greeters at the church for new people like me. One of those greeters was Mark, who after getting to know me, introduced me to Scott and Julie, who are also from Tennessee. West Tennessee, but Tennessee, nonetheless. Julie has a daughter that is 2 months younger than Allie. She also just had a daughter that is 2 weeks younger than Kaiya. So needless to say, Julie and I have a bit in common!

I've been wanting to do something with them for a long time so that Allie could have a playdate...Brad could meet a new friend...and now so that Kaiya would have a little buddy! All of those things came together tonight and we had such a good time having them over.

Baby Jocelyn is such a tiny baby - especially compared to Kaiya!! I am SOOO jealous of Jocelyn's full head of rock star hair!!! Both babies were pretty well behaved during our visit with minimal fussing!!

Baby Jocelyn has the longest limbs I've ever seen on a newborn!! But she's so tiny!!

This picture made me giggle a little - she's almost nudging Jocelyn on the shoulder as if to say..."Look!!"

Day 58 - Good little sleeper

Kaiya has turned out to be such a GREAT baby...seriously - I had my doubts.

I've heard that it was impossible to have two good babies or that Kaiya would be high maintenance because of all the activity in the womb...and for the first 3-4 weeks...I thought everyone was right. Luckily...or unluckily...it was the stomach virus that made her so high maintenance. She just felt yucky.

But THESE days...she's sleeping longer and longer at night (we're up to 6 1/2 hours at our longest stretch!) and she goes right down for a nap in the early afternoon. Late afternoons, we don't try so hard to make sure she goes down an hour after she eats...I'm okay if she sleeps less - so she'll sleep good at night.

She cracks me up when she sleeps...I will literally swaddle her so tight that sometimes I'm afraid I'm cutting off her circulation - she's a thumb sucker (or fist sucker...she just like to suck that right hand...) so I try to prevent her hand from getting to her mouth - but the swaddle doesn't prevent much...She manages to get both hands out and then later in her sleep manages to wiggle onto her side...always the same side and always facing the exact way!

Oh...and even though she has her sleeves to cover up her hand...her entire right sleeve will be soaked from her sucking on it!!! Every day it surprises me at how DIFFERENT Allie and Kaiya are!!

Day 57 - What I am thankful for

Today is Thanksgiving.

I am far, far away from my family. My mom, my brother and my nephew.

Brad is far, far away from his family. His moms, his dad, his sisters, brother, aunts and uncles, cousins and grandparents and all of his nieces and nephews.

We are here alone. Brad, Jennifer, Allie and Kaiya.

And I am thankful for the 4 of us being here together.

I love that we have such a group of people back in Tennessee and Texas that we can call family and that love us as much as we love them, but sometimes it is nice to be alone with your own family to really understand what is most important during the holidays. As much as I would have LOVED to go back to Tennessee or visit Texas, to have a big family Thanksgiving - I think that this is what we needed this year to focus on us.

We ended up heading over to a friend's for Thanksgiving Day dinner - she is a transplant to Utah as well and her family is elsewhere, so what better way to give thanks for your family than to include another. She made the turkey, I provided the ham - she opened her home to us and we all contributed side dishes.

Allie had a blast playing with her little dog, Toby and by the end of the night - they were both worn out!

We had a great Thanksgiving!

Earlier today - Allie and Kaiya spent some time playing together. Look at these sweet pictures...

Even at such a young, young age - Kaiya loves following Allie around with her eyes. She loves to hear Allie's voice. She's so interested in her big sister that I know she will follow Allie around driving her nuts when she gets older.

You can see that Kaiya is just drawn to whatever Allie is doing...
And Allie loves her little sister...
You can't tell very well - but Allie had to hold Kaiya's hand while they were playing.

I am so thankful to have such sweet daughters.