Family Love

The cousins and Abby loving on Kenzie.

Kenzie at One Month

Kenzie turned one month old on May 2nd, 2009. She has been a delight and a wonderful addition to this family. We really thought Abigail was an easy baby, and she was. However, I think Kenzie may be even easier (so far). I remember Abby going through a time where we thought she had a bit of collic, and we had to bounce her on the ball to calm her down. We haven't had that with this one. Kenzie has a lot of dark hair and looks like she'll have dark blue eyes. She weighed in at 8 lbs 10 oz (29% bracket) at her first month doctor appointment. She is 22 inches long (80% bracket). That makes her tall and thin like her dad. She has super long fingers, feet and chicken legs. While Abigail resembled me from birth, Kenzie seems to resemble Jeremy. She has been a lot more alert and awake lately. She is a good sleeper (4 hours at a time), eater and cuddler. When she gets upset, her screaming escalates quickly. She's been a little less settled lately, but nothing too challenging at all. At her doctor's appointment, we talked about her belly button, which protrudes a bit. Apparently it's a type of hemorrhage. Basically, the abs aren't close together yet and there's a small hole behind the belly button where the fat surrounding the stomach is pushing through, causing the belly button to poke out. It's not too uncommon and normally goes away by a year. It poses no problem and hers is small. She has been a wonderful addition to our family. She is still sleeping in our bed, and I just love to lay next to her and stare at her beautiful face. Thank you, Lord, for this amazing blessing. Picture to come.

All In

=My girlfriends threw me a diaper shower, which was right up my alley. Perfect! It was quite entertaining. First of all, I think girls don't normally play poker because they talk too much and laugh too hard and don't pay attention to the game. Also, it was quite entertaining to watch the girls try to figure out the game. We had someone claim to have a "full deck." Finally, someone got the term right, proudly announcing her "full house" and yet had three diamonds and three hearts...umm...not quite. Another person asked what the term "four of a kind" meant. I think we need to practice a bit more. I won...OK, so I didn't technically win because my hands were lame all night. However, I did go home with all the diapers. What a blessing!

Rock Star

We were hanging out one night and asked Abigail to sing for us. She proceeded to get her sun glasses and microphone and sit herself down at her piano. The performance began after making sure everyone was watching. This is actually a regular occurance. She loves to sing and her current favorites are "Happy Birthday," "ABC song," "Jesus Loves Me," "Ho Ho Ho Hosanna," "Itsy Bitsy Spider," "The Elephant Song"and "The Wheels on the Bus." Her ABC's she can do all by herself with every letter. She always wants her microphone in hand. The glasses are a new addition.

Time Out

This is an older video, but it is of Abigail in time out. She had recently started yelling, "Playdough - Jenn" during time out. I don't know why she has decided to use time out to yell this request, but I find it quite entertaining. Time out doesn't seem to upset Abby. She even puts herself there sometimes. However, she does come back with changed behavior or a changed attitude, so I guess it's working. She is sooo cute when she says sorry too. Then, she always jumps into my arms. Warms my heart!

Easter

Our second (and final) stop was the Weber celebration with Jer's side of the family. There was an egg hunt for the littlest "cousins." The adults had a wonderful conversation about where we're at in life and where we're going.

Our first stop was at my sister's house for an Easter egg hunt, food and family. Abigail enjoyed Easter because of the chocolate involved. Every time she found an egg, she would open it up and say "chocolate." She, of course, also loved being with her cousins and the rest of the family.

Gym Class

Every Monday and Wednesday, Abigail has gym class at the Lakewood YMCA. With Daddy home during the first couple weeks of Kenzie's life, he was able to join us fo rthe fun! Here are some of the activities Abby enjoys, the obstacle course, giant swing, slide into the "foam pit" and jumping (Abby style, which is really running) on the trampoline. We also sing some songs in a couple circle times. Abby gets a stamp on her hands at the end of class and LOVES to show it off to everyone, especially the other Moms.

Sisters

People keep asking about how Abigail is dealing with the new competition. I could not ask for it to be going any better! She is amazing! She has not shown one sign of jealousy or animosity toward her sister. In contrast, she always shows her sister love and gentleness. She asks to hug and kiss Kenzie every morning and every night. The other day Kenzie was upset and Abby just sat by her and kept pushing the pacifier back into her mouth and rubbing her gently. She has treated her like a newborn kitten - barely touching her when she gives her love and being so careful while around her. Stupid mom left Kenzie in the middle of the living room today and Abby accidently walked backward into her, really not hurting Kenzie at all but Abby cried and was so upset thinking she had maybe hurt her. I reassured her that her sister was fine. I have been in awe at Abigail's love and care for her sister.

The Bob

We splurged. I interviewed so many people about the perfect double stroller. We heard a lot of people saying we needed to buy the Bob. Of course, it was the most expensive stroller out there. We decided against it...until we test drove a number of strollers, including the Bob. Then, we bought it and do love it - feeling like it was a great investment. It has already been used a lot. It's great on the road and off. It almost propels itself. I tried running the other day, not knowing why I really had to heal for as long as they recommend. Well, as my knee stung with pain a couple days later, I was informed that the healing process is for my entire body as hormones are still shifting and joints, etc. are weak right now. Oops. I guess it's walking for now. I can't complain about that because I really don't like running and just do it because I feel like I have to to try and get my body back in shape. Have patience!

Sleeping with Daddy

Two of the things we prayed for with Kenzie: 1) a cuddler (dad's big request) 2) a pooper. Be careful what you pray for. Kenzie loves to be in our arms and sleeping near us. She is so much more satisfied that way. She also has no problems with constipation like our eldest. With her chicken legs and diapers not fitting perfectly, that has meant many blow outs, but it really does beat the constipation.