My Kindergartner

I can't believe it.....she's in kindergarten!! What a big girl. Poor thing has to get up at 6:15 in order to get ready for school. Drop off is at 7:30am!! She is doing well with the early mornings though even though she's not a morning person (just like her mother!).

Layne was Hayden's little helper on the first day of school since she had so much stuff to bring in....and we had Gwynn too! Layne starts pre-k next Monday. Then it will be just Miss G and I!

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Sweet Profile

I just can't get enough of this girl! 

Smiles and Binkies

I caught a little smile finally! She does it a TON while she's sleeping and a little while she's awake. I'm not surprised that she smiled while she was hanging out with her friends on the play mat since that's one of her favorite things to do.

We introduced the binkie today. Neither Hayden or Layne really feel in love with their binkie. Laayne used it a little during nap time when she was young and then she found her fingers and still sucks them at night! We will see if Gwynn is a binkie girl or not.

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Hanging Out

Gwynn just hung out on her boppy tonight while the girls and I ate dinner. She just watched her mommy's every move!

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Gwynn Meets World Week Two

Bath Time and Moby

Now that Gwynn has lost her umbilical cord we can do real baths! She slept through her first read bath, so I didn't want to take pictures. Today she was awake and "enjoying" it so it was picture time! Look at those skinny little legs! She is growing though. I weighed myself and her yesterday then subtracted my weight. We think that she's between 8 and 8 1/2 pounds already!! Our digital scale only does pounds and 1/2 pounds. 

She tolerates bath time until it's time to wash her beautiful hair, then she gets very upset about the whole thing! 

Once she's wrapped in her towel the world is perfect again. Her skin is pretty try so we make sure to lotion up before getting dressed. Isn't she just beautiful?! 

Then it's time for the cute outfit of the day. 

I plan on using this once we go back to Discover Point on Sundays. It's a way to keep her happy, give me both arms, and to keep her close to me. I really don't think that I'm an overprotective mommy, but my job right now as a mommy to Gwynn is to keep her happy, healthy, and safe and of course to love her to pieces! The best way that I know to do that is NOT to have her passed around from person to person to person when we're in public. So, hands off for a little while :) 

Our First Walk!

This morning we went on our first walk through the neighborhood.....well, just to the turn around and back. It was HOT outside! Our newest addition did just fine. She took in all the sounds and a few sights (her eyes were closed a lot of the time because of how bright it is outside). Her jaundice is clearing up more and more every day.

The big sisters are very protective of little sister. The each walked on either side of the stroller with a hand on the car seat. Can't let anything happen to her!

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Feed Time, Wake Time, Sleep Time....

Today kicks off day one of getting Gwynn on a schedule. Now, she has really been on a schedule since we got home-I have to wake her up every three hours during the day to feed her and at night she wakes up every three hours (sometimes less) on her own so that I can feed her. But, we have done the Baby wise scheduling with the other two girls and it really seems to create happy babies! The basics are that you feed your baby at a certain time first thing in the morning (6:30am for us) and then the baby has some wake time doing some sort of activity (swing, play mat, looking out window, going for a walk...) then when they start to fuss it's nap time. At her age all these events take place between 2 1/2 to 3 hours. Then you start all over again. Both Hayden and Layne had a little trouble soothing themselves in the beginning-especially Layne. I know that this is just Gwynn's first day but she is doing an great job! She's eating well during feed time, she's not that hard to keep awake at wake time, and she cries for maybe 3 minutes before sleep time! Here's a picture of she and Layner during one of her wake times this morning.

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Visiting with Baby Anna

Jeremy's cousin brandon and his wife melissa and their new baby came over the other day for a visit and to bring us a meal! The food was delicious and visit was even better!

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Scrapbooking & Updates!

About a week before Gwynn came into this world I decided that it was far past time to start, work on, and complete Layne's one year scrapbook. I hate feeling like she gets the shaft some of the times just because she's the second child. I guess I feel like if I can do a scrapbook for Layne at least Gwynn has a chance at getting one :) I actually have a really great idea for Gwynn's scrapbook. It will include all of the weekly updates that I am going to do. Much less work when I actually go to put it together because all of the writing and facts will already be there. I will say though, I have thoroughly enjoyed going back through Layne's first year on the blog in order to pull pictures and details about her life. So, the week before Gwynn I pulled pictures and had them printed. Then I got started working on each individual page. I think that I got to Layne's 9th month before it was time to have Gwynn. So, this last week I have been finishing the book and going back to each page and writing down every little detail that goes with the pictures. It has made me so excited about Gwynn's first year. I just can't wait to see how much she grows and changes throughout this year. I absolutely love seeing their littler God given personalities develop. It is going to be so much fun continuing on our journey with an addition to our family!!
Update on Gwynn.....she is doing so well. Jeremy and I can't remember things being this easy or Layne and Hayden being this good this early on. I know that she's only a week and a half but she is just so content. I have to wake her up to feed her between every 2 1/2 to 3 hours every time during the day and then she wakes up every 3 hours at night to feed. She has no trouble sleeping in her crib or swing. When she's awake she is very pleasant. The only time she cries is when she's hungry.
Update on Hayden and Layne. They are transitioning so well into their new roles as big sisters. They just adore Gwynn and are the best helpers. They both are so eager to do whatever I need. They are both getting geared up to start school! Hayden starts in a week and Layne starts in two. That's when it's really going to get weird. Just having Gwynn at home while the girlies are growing and learning at school.....where has the time gone?!
I feel like I am totally back to normal...even better than normal. I'm not feeling sleep deprived or depressed or irritable. I am so truly happy. I am especially happy to not be pregnant anymore! I'm really looking forward to 5 weeks down the road when Gwynn and I can start hitting the pavement so that I can get back to running again! That's going to be awesome! I am just in love with our family of five. God is so good!

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One Week Photo Shoot

Lisa came over today to take pictures of sweet Gwynn on her one week birthday. Gwynn did a great job of sleeping most of the time. 

As you can tell from this picture, the big sisters adore Gwynn! 

This one took forever to get. She was not a big fan of this pose at all! We finally got the shot though. 

Thanks so very much for taking this pictures of our sweet baby! You are such a talented photographer girl and I love you! 

Playmate Time!

Gwynn stayed awake for a while this morning, so the girls and I got the playmat out to see how she'd do with that. She was reaching for the toys and enjoying it the whole time! We were surprised.

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Photo Adventure of Grandma's Visit

Grandma came into town on July 7th and stayed until today! It's been so great having her around. The girls have just been in absolute heaven spending every waking moment with their grandma! Last night I downloaded all of the pictures that she took while she was here. Here's everything that they were up to while I was home with Gwynn! I think that they went to Cream Berry every day.....well, every day that it was open at least! When they weren't open it was off to Brusters!

They each would get a cone and then just eat the ice cream out. Finally, grandma convinced them to just get a bowl since they didn't like the cone! Silly girls. 

Can you ever get enough ice cream?! 

Pretty sure they went to the library every day too....except for Sunday since it was closed! 

5 books each every visit. Hayden would take her time picking the perfect books that she wanted grandma to read. Layne would just shove the first 5 books that she saw in her bag! 

All that hair! I told Jeremy and my baby bump followers that I really wanted this baby to not only have lots of hair, but to have my color hair. God listened! I am just in love with all of her dark dark brown hair!! 

Pool time every single day....unless we got an afternoon storm. Grandma would just sit out in the sun and bake while the girls stayed cool in the pool. 

This was one of the gifts that Layne picked out for her birthday. Grandma got her a Tangled wig and a magic wand. The wig is just too much! 

As you can see, Layne is in love with her new hair! 

I think that they went bike riding at Hayden's new school at least 3 times. Grandma was even able to teach Layne how to actually pedal! I was so excited at the doctors yesterday when they asked me if Layne could pedal a bike and I could answer "YES"!! 

Grandma said that there were time that she had to run in order to keep up with the girls....they were moving so fast! 

McDonalds a couple times too. I think this was Layne's birthday lunch. I really tried to celebrate her birthday a lot before the actual day since I knew that I'd be out of commission (either VERY pregnant or with a newborn). We had a party at school, a party at Grandma and Pop's, a birthday dinner with Grandma.....I really thought that I had covered it! Well, Monday morning when she woke up she said, "Mommy, so does everyone know to come to the house today for my birthday party?" I tried to explain to her that she already had a party. She just didn't get it. She said, "No, I mean everyone else.....like all of my friends? When are they coming over for my party today?" My heart just broke. I asked mom if she could take the girls out and have a very fun day together.She, of course, said she'd love to. I think called Jeremy in tears and asked him to pick up a special cake for her on his way home from work. 

So, off for an amazingly fun birthday day adventure they went! 

They were going to paint pottery, but the place is closed on Monday and Tuesdays. So instead they went to Chuck E Cheeses! Mom is such a troopers! She said there were a ton of kids there, including a day care! Ugh! 

The girls had an absolute blast though. 

They also went to the library, ice cream, Wal-Mart, Pet Smart, and the park that day!! 

On Tuesday when mom told Hayden that she was going to be leaving to go back to Florida in the morning Hayden looked at me and said, "Oh", burst into tears, and buried her head in my chest. I have never seen her react that strongly about anything. It totally caught mom and I off guard and we both just started sobbing. This visit will not soon be forgotten by any of us. 

We Are A Family of FIVE?!

I took this today of the three sisters. This is Gwynn's first "outfit" that I've put her in. I have been putting her in the pj snap up things and covering her feet and hands so that she doesn't scratch herself. Well, last night I was reading some breast feeding info that the hospital gave me (feeling very engorged and uncomfortable and I was desperate for some relief) and they had a whole page about baby's second day. I know that my emotions are definitely way sensitive right now and over the top, but I almost lost it when I read it.It basically talks about the fact that on day two the baby starts to realize that she has no comforts from "home" anymore. There are new sounds, she's being passed all around from person to person, everything is so bright and loud, and she doesn't even have her fingers (which was her comfort in the womb) because they have been covered so she doesn't claw herself. The only comfort that she has found is the breast (if you are breastfeeding). So basically, let her find comfort in that and don't try to put her on a schedule or take it away....and take those covers off of her hands! So, this morning I dressed her in a non-hand-covering outfit, clipped her nails, and felt a lot better about not taking that away from her :)  

Yesterday was a busy day for us! We had Layne's 4 year old appointment and Gwynn's 1 week appointment (really she was just 5 days old, but who's counting?!). Layne did so well. She did a hearing test, eye test, got her blood pressure taken, and got 4 shots! She did scream for the shots and grandma had to hold her down, but we got through it. She claimed that she couldn't walk because of the shots, so grandma had to carry her for a little while. They she said that when she runs it actually makes her shots feel better. So for a while she was running everywhere!
Gwynn did well too. I had to (well, I guess I didn't have to) nurse in pubic for the first time in my life. We got to the appointment and I had all this paper work for fill out for both of them-new patient paperwork for Gwynn and updated paperwork for Layne. I sat, Gwynn woke up, she started crying, so I had to feed her because at this point that's the only thing that she wants when she's awake! So, I covered up, put her under the blanket, fed her, and did the paperwork all at the same time. Over and over since we had to wait!
The doctor was concerned with her jaundice so she sent us to the hospital for a blood test to check her levels. She was 15%, the doctor said that they get very concerned when levels are above 20%. Today the whites of her eyes don't look as yellow, so I think that it's clearing up. The doctor did mention that I bring her back on Thursday so that she could take a look at her eyes, but if it seems to be improving I don't know that we'll do that. I will just have to keep an eye on it. She hasn't quite made it back up to her birth weight yet either. She was 7 pound 8 ounces and yesterday she weighed 7 pounds 5 ounces. The doctor would like for me to bring her back next Monday for a weigh in.
She's eating kind of well....she's just so sleepy all the time. And she's sleeping very well. At night I was having trouble getting her down. One night it was from about 10:00pm to 4:00am until she really slept for more than 30 minutes. The next night it was from about 10:00pm to 2:00am. Two nights ago it was that she went right to sleep but then at 2:00am it took me until 5:00am to get her back to sleep. But LAST night mom suggested that I try to prop her on her side using her sleep positioner (kind of wedge her in there) while she was swaddled. Well, that worked like magic.....at least last night it did! She only woke up on her own one time last night! I, of course, woke her up about every 2 1/2 hours to feed her because I am so engorged. But once my milk gets all situated that will be a good deal if the swaddling side propping thing continues to work!

Daddy resting with his newest little girl. How tiny and cute is she?!

The birthday girl on Monday with her special surprise birthday cookie cake from daddy!


She seems to really like her swing.....of course I am pretty sure that she could sleep just about anywhere these days!

Little girl in her big crib.

The beautiful 18 long stemmed red roses that dad and Melody sent us!

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