Just a Swingin'

Richard put together the swing this week.  Karcie LOVES to be held at all times.  While I love holding her, I do have to put her down occasionally to do other things....mainly, to take care of big sister and her needs!  I thought the swing may be a good solution.  The swing was in perfect condition because Kamdyn HATED the swing!  Turns out, Karcie HATES it, too!  I still haven't given up on the swing all together, but it looks as if the swing will not be used as my hands free device.  BOO!

NOT HAPPY in the swing even with the pacifier!  :(

Where is my PACI?

Karcie LOVES, LOVES her paci!  Kamdyn would not take a pacifier no matter what we did.  Kamdyn was colicky so, believe me, we tried every pacifier ever made to try and get her to be quiet.  Karcie can cry with the best of them, but will thankfully take a pacifier to quieten down and save our sanity!  :)  She sort of reminds me of the baby on the Simpsons when she sucks on her pacifier.

Our sweet girl taking an afternoon nap!  She has to be swaddled in order to sleep!

Big Sister is so good about helping us put that pacifier back in when Karcie pops it out!

Ah......PEACE at last!

Birthday Parties

Kamdyn had two birthday parties to go to this past week. She had a blast at both of them!

Aly and Olivia's Gymnastics Party.  This is the view from the viewing window upstairs!

Karcie went along with us and was a perfect angel!  She slept the entire time!  Notice the bib.....after the doctor's office incident, I learned my lesson with her!  :)

Waiting on cake and ice cream!

 Paden's Party....Pink/Black Party

Getting her nails painted!

Decorating a butterfly!  They also had a make-up station set up along with a photographer there for a "real" photo shoot!  It was a super cute party!

Paden and Kamdyn

Paden and Kamdyn being silly!  They are so cute!

They always have a pinata at Paden's party!  Paden's Daddy is the softball coach for North Augusta High School.  They finished 2nd in the state this year!  I think they like Paden to show off her batting skills!  :)

Mommy of Two!

I have plenty of photos to post when I get more than a few minutes to get upstairs to the "big" computer to post, but until then I just have a few thoughts to record....

Being a Mommy of two has been great thus far....not perfect, but wonderful in all of it's glory!  I have had moments of frustration when I am feeding Karcie and Kamdyn says, "Mommy, can you play a game with me?" I have to say, "Wait until I am finished and I will."  To that Kamdyn has replied, "I am waiting my life away!"  It breaks my heart!  There have been several occasions at night when Richard hasn't been home that Kamdyn has been sitting in the living room alone watching TV while I feed and put Karcie to bed.  Again, it breaks my heart!  She is my FIRST baby and I do not want her in any way to feel slighted or left out.  I still want her to be the center of attention and it's sometimes hard for me to put the focus on Baby Karcie.  I feel guilty, but know that Karcie needs me most right now and will only be a tiny baby for a short time.   My heart is in a constant tug-of-war!  What to do?

Tonight I was pretty proud of myself because I was able to get both girls fed, bathed, and in bed by 9:30 ALL BY MYSELF without any tears!  Richard was at an Augusta Greenjackets game with neighbors.  While my goal every night is to have both girls in bed by 8:30 with help, I thought 9:30 was pretty good without help! 

I thrive on routines (so does Kamdyn).  I am trying my very best to be sure that Karcie loves a good routine, too.  So far, she has done pretty well!  Nights have been great!  She is still sleeping 3-4 hours at a time and goes back to sleep right after her feedings (except for a few "off" nights).  She is a little fussier during the day, but I will take fussy days over fussy nights.  Fussy days mean that I have to strategically plan when I get all of my "chores" done around the house.  Kamdyn and I have to plan our lunch around Karcie's feedings and naps.  Her naps are pretty short during the day.  Kamdyn and I have been taking a nap when Karcie takes her long afternoon nap between 2:00 and 4:00.  This has helped both mine and Kamdyn's daily mood.  We are both really cranky without our rest! 

Karcie quickly moved away from Newborn diapers to Size 1 diapers.  She is already in 3 month clothes and we quickly forgot about Kamdyn's Preemie and Newborn clothes.  Karcie LOVES a pacifier!  Kamdyn never did!  Today I started having Karcie take her naps in her crib.  We transitioned Kamdyn to her crib around 5 weeks.  I plan to try and do the same with Karcie although I do love having her beside me in her bassinet. 

Karcie is precious and I still can't get over how much she looks like Kamdyn as a baby.  I secretly hope that Karcie keeps the dark hair that Kamdyn lost.  But, at the same time, I will feel truly blessed if Karcie ends up looking like our beautiful blond, blue/green-eyed Kamdyn!

Being a Mommy of Two has turned out to be much better than I could have ever imagined.  I love having two girls!  I can't wait to watch both of them grow!

Nanny Visits

Even though we hated to see Daddy go back to work we were blessed to have Nanny here with us instead.  She stayed from Monday to Friday.  I guess things were so hectic that I forgot to get out my camera.  Nanny entertained Kamdyn the ENTIRE time and even got some quiet time (in the middle of the night) with Baby Karcie.  We enjoyed having her here and can't wait for her to come back!  We love you Nanny  Thanks for all of your help and patience!

Hanging Out with Daddy

Unfortunately, Richard had to go back to work this week.  He couldn't wait to get home and hold his sweet girl everyday!  Here he is practicing one of his "5 S's" from the Happiest Baby on the Block video - swaddling!

Two Week Doctor's Appointment

Karcie was two weeks old on Friday, June 10th, which was also her two week doctor appointment.  Dr. Foushee was out-of-town so we had to see Dr. Cannady.  He turned out to be super nice!

I had all intentions of taking a photo of Karcie's first doctor's visit.  The outfit below is what I had Karcie dressed up in (and, she looked adorable); however, as we were waiting to be called in the waiting room she decided to spit-up like a fountain.  In fact, it was the most she had spit up the entire two weeks.  GREAT!!  Just my luck!!  It went everywhere including all in the car seat.  Luckily, I did pack another onesie, but it wasn't nearly as cute.  Thankfully, she did great during her visit and didn't cry one time.

Dr. Cannady said that she looked great.  He said she was a little bit jaundiced which was probably from breastfeeding, but was nothing to worry about.  He removed the rest of her belly button cord and cauterized it.  He was very pleased with her weight gain.....she lost down to 7 lbs. 5 oz. in the hospital and had gained over a pound and a half!  Yay!  At least I know she is getting an ample supply of breast milk! He said her peeling skin was to be expected and would eventually stop.  He said that the two red marks in her eyes were just busted blood vessels that would correct on their own, too!

Here are her two week stats:

Weight  8 lbs. 12 oz.

Length 21 inches

Head Circumference 14 cm

Our cute little strawberry outfit without our cute baby!  :)

First Outing with TWO kids!

We got out a little bit this week, but didn't do anything too major.  Mostly, we took a trip in the car to get lunch, to take back Kamdyn's library books, and to take Karcie to the doctor.  I realized that Karcie can't fit behind my seat.  And, Kamdyn can no longer sit in the middle.  Two car seats make for a crowded back seat!  I think this having two children thing might not be so difficult after all!  I LOVE it!!