Our Beautiful Baby Girl

We are falling in love with our baby girl more and more every day! I am loving every moment of dressing her up; let's just hope she continues to let me dress her up and that some day her taste in clothes isn't way different than mine! Makenna is doing very well. She is a very good baby and lets her Mommy get some sleep at night which is wonderful (she typically goes 4-5 hours, but has gone up to 8 1/2 hours!!). For the most part Makenna is pretty content just hanging out in her bouncy seat or on the floor, napping and sleeping in her crib, and letting her brother hold her. She has been spitty and "refluxy" so we're saying lots of prayers that she doesn't need to be on Prevacid too. Daddy thinks that Makenna doesn't like him as much as she's often fussy in the evenings, but that's because Makenna likes to eat quite often in the evening (but that's what gets her through the night) and Daddy just doesn't have the good stuff. Makenna usually has 2-3 really wide awake, alert times a day and loves to look around.

Perfect Little Toes

Precious HandsBeautiful Baby

I still like my paci!

Look how big I'm getting!

Tired Girl

I decided to do a post for Makenna and a separate one for Denver and then hopefully a "together" post so stay tuned! The joys of trying to keep things even!

Adjusting to the life as a family of 4

I'm guessing my "blog fans" are dying to know how it's going as a family of 4. Since I'm posting a 3rd time since Makenna was born it's going well....otherwise you probably wouldn't be 'reading' from me. :)

Makenna is a week old today and our lives are adjusting wonderfully. Denver LOVES his baby sister and we're wondering if he might even become a little possessive. He always wants to sit in his chair and hold her and he does so well. This morning I wanted to hold her and he was NOT ready to give her up!

"I love holding my baby sister, Mom!"

Nights.....sleepless? Not really. Our first night home was the toughest and should be, right? Makenna thought she needed to eat every hour for the first half of the night, but then she went 3 hours and following that 4 hours. The night before last night was our best night! She went around 4 hours and then SEVEN hours! It was amazing. We tried waking her up at 5 hours, but there was no waking her (even in our cold basement with basically all her clothes off for a diaper change); finally at 7 hours she was willing to wake up, but she would've slept longer if I would've let her. This was also the night of her first bath, which she did NOT like! We also, originally planned to have Makenna sleep in the playpen in our room so I wouldn't have to go up and down the stairs during the night, but she seems to sleep better in her crib so we aren't using the playpen much. (I'm glad Evan talked me out of buying a bassinet!)

"Dad, don't put me back in that tub!"

Putting jammies on.

Napping in my crib.

Makenna and I get up around 8a.m. which so far has been perfect timing. I am able to feed Makenna, pump, and do a couple things for myself (this morning I even got a shower in) before Denver wakes up. Makenna is very laid back (so far....but Denver was at this point too) and sleeps most of the time in her bouncy seat or crib so I am able to spend lots of time playing with my big boy! Makenna also likes to lay on the floor to kick and look around.

I have a baby that likes a pacifier!!!! (Although she will find her thumb too.)

Both the kiddos had doctor appointments yesterday. Makenna had her first well baby check and I got our pediatrician to do Denver's 18 month check up about a week early so I could do them both at once instead of driving to the other end of town once a week for the next several weeks! Our pediatrician was happy with how they both looked. Makenna goes back in about 2 weeks just to make sure she's still gaining weight, etc. and then in about a month she also will have an ultrasound to her hip. When our pediatrician was checking her hips he noticed that she had a small little click at times and he said it's probably fine, but we better do an ultrasound just to make sure. Girls are at higher risk for hip clicks which can lead to dislocation of the hip. Denver doesn't have to go back until he's 2! We did discuss his Prevacid "therapy" some and our pediatrician was on board with me to leave him on it until he's 2 and then maybe try him off it again and see how he does. There was a little too much going on for Mommy (but have to say a huge thank you to Grandma Verni for helping me get them to their appts and help entertain the one that wasn't being looked at as it would've been to hectic for me to do by myself) to remember everything from this appointment so I only am posting weights, just in case I remember lengths incorrectly.

Makenna weighed 6lbs 12 oz (1 oz away from birth weight!)

Denver weighed 21lbs 4 oz (he stayed in the 5%!!)

We've continued the tradition of a bowl of ice cream every night so far! Denver did NOT want to share with me the other night. We might have to start doing our own bowls from now on. He took the bowl from me and ran away.

"Yum! It's all mine Mom!"

Happy Mother's Day

Happy (belated) Mother's Day to all my blog readers! I hope each and every one of you had a very special Mother's Day. We had a great day. Some how we made it to Church (late service and we weren't any early, but not bad for the 1st time) for the first time as a family of 4! It was fun walking in the door and everyone stopping us to ooh and aww over our precious baby girl. It was also interesting watching Denver's reaction to not being the one they were gawking over. After Church we went home to my Mom and Dad's where we celebrated Mother's Day and my Dad and his brother's birthdays. This too was the first time for Makenna to meet all of these family members (except for Grandpa and Grandma of course). We were able to catch Evan's Mom on the highway on the way home to give her, her Mother's Day card and then home we went to be a family of 4! We were able to enjoy a walk and finally got some pictures taken that evening after the kids had their baths. I had hoped to get pictures with the kids in their Sunday clothes, but it didn't happen...although I did catch a snapshot of Makenna in her dress...the first time wearing a dress. Oh was it ever fun getting her ready for Church! She had a bow too, but that was off by the time we took this picture.

This Mother's Day felt like my first Mother's Day in many ways as last year I spent most of the day working. I was supposed to work this year too, but thankfully Makenna decided to make an early appearance and made it possible for me to enjoy the day and be with my family!

Makenna Betty

Our new little bundle of joy has arrived! Makenna joined our family on May 5th at 4:28p.m. after what Daddy calls a 15 hour labor (he started the count with the first contraction). I went into labor in the middle of the night. After having several nights of contractions throughout the night I wasn't sure to trust that this was the real thing. When we arrived at the hospital and up to the labor and delivery floor my contractions were probably about every 3 minutes apart. They admitted me and were happy with the progress I was making, as were we! There was a time where my contractions spread out, so they had to help me along with a little pitocin, but this got things moving along again and I had an awesome epidural. Our exciting day was completed with a successful "natural" delivery with our awesome nurse Kathy and my doctor! We couldn't be happier with how the delivery went, the people who were there to help us (and the people who were at home with Denver...thanks a million to Paula, Grandma Kim, and Grandma Verni), and our beautiful, healthy, baby girl!

My labor nurse Kathy (who also taught me the ropes on L&D when I did a 120 hour internship during nursing school). We were so happy she was there to help us!

Denver meeting his baby sister for the first time!Denver loves his baby sister Makenna!Makenna's first bath!Getting her hearing tested (this is a requirement for all

babies before they go home...of course she passed!).First family photo.Mommy and her kids!

Makenna's first name was chosen just as a name that we both liked. Her middle name, Betty, is after her only Great-Grandma that she will not get to meet. For those of you who knew her know that words cannot describe her fully, as she was truly an amazing women. My hope and prayer is that Makenna and I are able to follow in her footsteps and live our lives with as much purpose and strength as Grandma Betty (and Grandma Verni too) did. We have big shoes to fill, but I believe we can do it!

Look how strong I am at only 30 hours old!Daddy's Girls!Daddy didn't know he could love a little girl so much!

Makenna and I were discharged from the hospital today and are very happy to be home. Denver is adjusting well so far. He likes to go quick love on her and then be about his way again. I am anxious to see how our first night goes, but I did keep Makenna in the nursery at the hospital so I could get some good sleep before my sleepless nights and days began! (Link to her cradle roll picture http://www.sanfordhealth.org/CradleRoll/BabyList.cfm?CradleRollParentId=26025)

Going Home!

Finally at home!

We want to thank each and every one of you for all of your prayers for us, my delivery, Denver, and Makenna. God truly listened and answered! We ask that you continue to pray for us as we transition into our lives as a family of 4!

Denver's First Circus!

We took Denver to the circus for the first time last week Saturday. I had heard the circus was coming to town and thought it would be fun to take Denver, especially since going to the circus is a great memory of mine when I was little going with Grandpa Melvin and Grandma Betty (and family), but I wasn't sure if Denver was quite old enough to truly enjoy it and be able to sit that long. It was also my weekend to work. Amazingly, we were slow at work so I got to stay home on Saturday and we had friends down the street that had some extra tickets and the 6 of us (8 of us if you include the babies to be born) were able to go to the circus. The kids had fun and watching Denver's reaction to everything was priceless. Next year I hope we can plan in advance and take Great Grandpa Melvin and recreate those fun memories for me and start them for Denver (and maybe the baby too!). Of course Evan's best memory from going to the circus was getting a fun toy so he had to get Denver something fun. When on the lights went off in the arena and all the light up toys were lit Denver was quite impressed...."Oooo, oooo, oooo".

I'm not sure what Denver's favorite part of the circus was as he loved all the animals! Here are a couple pictures of the actual circus; the tigers and the elephant.

Denver and his best friend Abby! Thanks Abby for sharing tickets and taking us along. (Denver talks about Abby all the time. Abby is a new big sister...congrats and welcome Baby Mason! We keep telling Denver that he's going to be a big brother and have a baby at his house, just like Abby....we hope to take him to meet his new friend today.)

Another must have was some candy for the circus! Daddy went to get something to drink and came back with jump rope licorice for Denver. Let's just say everyone had a little bit of red on them when we left the show!

Our Growing Family

At about 36 1/2 weeks we took some maternity pictures of our growing family. This was important to me since we did this with my pregnancy with Denver and the fact that I haven't been good about getting pictures of my growing belly for this little girl to go back and see some day. Denver is all about my belly and the baby. He talks about the baby a lot, so lets just hope he continues to think that this baby is great once she's hear to really truly see AND hear! Here are a couple pictures from our photo shoot. (Sorry there are some pictures of my bare belly...Denver is more about the baby if he can see my actual belly!)

photography by Tom and Jessie Schoolmeester