1 Month

 

Look who is already 1 month!

My tiny little baby is getting so big already, here's what she has been up to:

We aren't missing too many meals, as of this week she was over 10 lbs, if we keep this rate she will out-weigh her brothers by one.

She is still quite sweet and loves to snuggle.

We probably spend too much time snuggling her, I don't really like having her on the floor when her brothers are home, you never know what may land on her.  So this equals her being held more by mom!

And to no surprise, she doesn't really like to lay down in her pack and play at night.  It isn't hard to get her back to sleep after feedings, but once you lay her down all the weird noises start and shortly after she is awake and ready to get up.

She definitely has a distinct- I'm hungry cry! She is also a bit sensitive, if she gets bumped or scratch she has a mad scream.

Her eyelashes have been growing in.

She gets  A LOT of really soft hugs and kisses from her brothers!

We move right through the diapers and are already into size one!

The doctor is thinking between her snorting and tummy aches, she might have reflux.  She also detected a heart murmur this week, so we will follow up with the cardiologist this month to make sure there are no issues with it.

She is super strong and holds her little neck right up!  This is probably good for her - she will probably need a bit of extra strength to hold her brothers off!

She recognizes all of our voices and will turn to look for us.

We get lots of great smiles, which I love!

Sometimes we are lucky with 4-5 hour stretches of sleep at night - which is great when it happens, because after the first time she is up at night, we have a hard time getting her back down and we generally only get one good stretch.

We still swaddle her at night, but unlike her brothers - hands out!  This girl loves her hands and always has them touching her face.

She still doesn't cry too often, but has been doing it more in her car seat.  I had to make 5 stops between Polk City and Baxter last week:(

So far she doesn't really like her baths too much, I'll work on that!

 

 

 

 

You'll love it at Adventureland

Sunday my work had a company day at Adventureland. My mom was so kind to watch Olivia so we could have a day with the boys.  We intended on starting the day early, but got home at 12:30 the night before and had a rough night with Olivia, so we didn't make it there until about noon.  We had a great time, but were so exhausted from the weekend and the heat that we did not take full advantage of the park.  We were able to go on a few rides and then spent most our time at the water park.  I feel really bad about not taking the boys on more rides:(

This was our first time to the water park.  I was quite impressed by all it had to offer, wouldn't mind going back with a group of adults for the day!

They had a great section for little kids with several slides, so the boys had a great time!  The best part - make your own icee machines!  The boys LOVE these, so they were quite happy!

 

 

 

 

What I know about our friends at school

So here is what I know about some of the boys’ friends at school:

Chase- he lives on a farm

Julia- she has flip -flops without the backs  (this makes her quite popular!)

Eva – well we hear a lot of random Eva stories – she just took a terrible bite into Dylan’s ear, so I’m not a fan of her this week.

Miss Candace – she has a different kind of tattoo

 

 

 

This and That

 

(please note, wrote this about a week ago)

-Olivia moved out of newborn diapers into 1’s! 

-It’s so hot here in Iowa, off the chart temps – 105 today.  Some nights it cools off a bit, I thought it was a bit cool out one night and Keith reminded me it was still in the 80’s.  I guess I’m starting to adjust. 

-Stella has been driving us crazy with her non-stop barking. It seems it has gotten worse.  We will be buying some sort of bark collar soon! 

-I’m sad to say I’m at the half-way point of my maternity leave, I just hate leaving my little girl

-Last night Keith unpacked his hospital bag- we haven’t been on top of things around here.

-Oddly, Kathie Lee and Hoda no longer annoy me???  What’s happening to me!  

 

 

 

 

Let's talk nursing (I promise this won't be too detailed!)

One thing that has been different about with Olivia than the boys is I have been nursing her. 

With the boys…

Between being a new mom and twins, nursing was beyond challenging.  For the boys we would do both at once for 30 minutes, then syringe feed them with formula.  It seemed to be a performance, Keith going from one side, to the other trying to keep them awake.  Then there was the pain factor.  We finally tried a bottle the first night home and that was the end of me nursing.  I did pump for a couple months, but that was it. 

And with Olivia…

Olivia was a rockstar at nursing from the start!  They had me feed her with in the first hour of being born and this girl latched right on and nursed for 40 minutes!!!!  We certainly had some struggles here and there at the hospital, but I just stayed calm and patient and we worked through it and we are over 4 weeks and still doing pretty well.  At her two-week appointment our ped said we should go ahead and try a bottle since I will have to go back to work soon.  She took the bottle without any issues and has had formula and breast milk bottles and no resistance with either.  We have been doing about one bottle a day.  I’ve been pumping 1-2 times a day.  I really should be doing this much more as I won’t have enough milk for her when I go back to work.  So that is how it is going with her, not sure how things will go when I return to work. 

Some things about nursing…

One thing I didn’t like about exclusively nursing is I didn’t like the thoughts that if I were gone for some reason, her food source was gone as well.  On the flip side, I love the fact that in any situation, if she needs to eat I can provide that for her.  I don’t have to hunt down warm water for a bottle. 

I am really happy we are able to do bottles now too, it is so nice to have this option when people come over or if we are out to dinner or somewhere that I can’t just leave the boys to go nurse Olivia.

As for pumping….

I know for many people the only option is to pump, then bottle feed.  After experiencing pumping and bottle feeding  AND nursing – nursing IS THE WAY TO GO!!! OH- my- the pumping is painful and time-consuming.  And let’s not forget the bottle making & washing that goes along with that.  So much more efficient to just nurse (though I realize these days are short-lived for us).  So my advice to any new mom is to try and stick with nursing for a couple weeks – it will get easier every day and really is much easier than pumping all the time.  (of course you still need to pump- just not quite as much). 

Oh – anyone who has pumped before might appreciate this story.  I had pumped for the first time and for some reason Keith had the pump and bottles and not sure why or what was going on – and he said, “we aren’t going to keep this are we”?  I’m sure my expression may have been priceless.  Guess he forgot about the “liquid gold” thing.  Part of me wanted to hook the pump up to him for 20 minutes.

One cool tool….

When you first have a baby, they want you to log all your diapers – when you feed, how long, etc.  With the boys we had pages filled in a notebook from our first week or two.  Well, hello 2012 and a world of aps.  We put the ibreastfeed application on my phone and it is awesome!!!  Such a fast and easy way to track your feedings and diapers.  I don’t use it anymore, but loved it for the first couple weeks.  I highly recommend this!!!

(I may be giving up on the Moby Wrap!  I can get it on, but having a hard time getting her comfy in it)  5 yards of fabric - this thing is crazy.

 

 

3 minutes of peace

all three sleeping!!!!!

 

 

 

 

We got out our favorite baby toy

Baby Einstein - and she LOVED it!!!  See her legs kicking like crazy.  

 

Masterpiece or 3 year old?

 

Busy Week

Last week Olivia and I kept quite busy – we had several activities….

Monday

Sunday night was a rough night so we got a late start on Monday.  I ran a few errands in Des Moines and then had to be back home by 3:00 for the exterminator to come.  We have a serious spider problem outside- so far, things are looking much better!  Wish we would have called sooner. 

Tuesday

I was very overdue for my dentist appointment. Having your dentist in Newton when you live in Polk City is in no way convenient, but after a bad experience in MN, I prefer to stick to my dentist that I have had my entire life.   So I took Olivia to Baxter to hang out with my mom while I was at my appointment.  Afterwards I met up with my friend Sara for lunch.  Afterwards I decided to go through Des Moines on my way home and we went to the mall for a little bit.

Wednesday

I took Olivia to the office to meet my co-workers.  Afterwards my friend Angie and her mom and daughter, Payton, came over to snuggle with Olivia.

Thursday

I had to get a haircut- I think it was last cut in November, so it was out of control.  I probably cut off 5 inches.  So mom came over after her chiro appointment and we met my sister in Des Moines for lunch, ran a couple errands, did my hair cut, then hurried back to Polk City  to pick the boys up the boys. 

Friday

Olivia had her first movie outing. We met Aunt Sarah at the theater to see Magic Mike.  It was certainly a fun movie to watch, but could have had more to the storyline.  There were only about 8 people in the theater- two older ladies who took off after about an hour.  Afterwards we had lunch at the Cheesecake factory.  Then a quick stop at Target and we headed home.  Friday night my friend Autumn and her little girl (Carter’s girlfriend) came over for dinner and lots of playing in the back yard.   It was so much fun to have them over. 

Kinley is a brave girl. See, it looks like the boys are sitting under a blanket - but if you look close, you will see this is their "egg".  They play in the egg ALL THE TIME and things get pretty crazy in the egg.  It's pretty exclusive, I'm generally not welcome.  She went up to them and said she wanted to go in there too.  They were like, no.  After some convincing, I managed to get her into the "egg".