one month old

Your life at one month old:

• you have learned how to nurse and take a bottle...huge accomplishments!
• you have endured many, many kisses very self-sacrificially
• you can sleep through a lot of noise (made by your siblings, of course).
• you have started to smile every once in awhile.  Just one smile makes our whole day.
• you still sleep on your side and like to have your arms tucked tight.
• you may not be able to talk, but you are a very strong communicator!  You make your needs known very clearly, which sometimes we find funny.
• you have gotten over your first stomach bug and a little temp of 99.5 (that freaked us out a bit, but ended up being okay).  

I was very entertained last night by this synopsis of baby products that would frighten children...follow this link:

this made me laugh - The Silly Wagon

is it love or harassment?

Sleeping with one eye open is wise around older siblings, especially if those sisters are all over you - all the time. I'm not sure she knows this is love yet. Right now, it must feel like harassment.

a fun distraction

I needed a distraction today from feeling lousy, so I continued to learn some more on how to scrapbook on the computer.  A stomach bug is making its way through our home.  We hope it passes soon!

I need to start planning this girl's bday party.  I just realized this morning that it is almost 2 weeks away.  Yikes!

newborn portraits

Our sweet friend, Rachel, came over about a week ago and took some newborn portraits for us.  Here are some of our favorites.

capturing childhood

I was given the advice a few years ago that the perfect age for a child portrait was around 4. They still look young, but they are starting to look like they will always. And they still have their front teeth! She finally has her strange haircut grown out (from when she cut it herself), so it was time to try to capture a portrait. I hope to have all 3 girls' portraits hanging of when they are 4 years old (or 5).

This one may be my favorite, probably because her dimple is showing.  We know our photographer really well, so when she asked to take our sweetie out by themselves I didn't hesitate.  It worked really well and both of them had a lot of fun.  And it was stressless for me, I loved it.

how am I?

As we get out again and return to normal life, I've enjoyed seeing people again.  I have found it funny though how you start to have set answers to baby-related questions.  I wanted to record some of my answers to the most common questions in my life right now.

How are your other girls with the new baby?

My oldest two are doing really well with the baby.  They love her like crazy - almost to a fault.  The can kiss her and cuddle her a little too much...if you know what I mean.  My greatest struggle with them right now, is that they always want to have "fun" plans.  They have enjoyed a lot of stimulation from Adam and the grandparents lately.  So, if they are subjected to staying home without any plans...they can be a little crazy.  I'm praying for energy these days so that I can start to provide them with a little more stimulation, myself, instead of depending on other people for that.

Are you and Adam exhausted? 

Yes!  I am exhausted!  I've rediscovered something kind of strange about myself though, I can feed and change a baby in the middle of the night without really waking up.  It is hard to remember what happened the night before when I wake up in the morning (I just know I got up once or twice).  To tell the truth, with no disrespect to my husband, Adam has had a full night's sleep every night.  I dream of him giving the middle of the night feeding and we are working towards that as we introduced the bottle this weekend.  

How is the baby doing?  What is she like?

The baby is doing pretty good.  Our most challenging part is nursing and we have had to seek help with that.  We've both gotten better, but its not easy yet.  And I know it will get easy...I'm just practicing patience right now.  Outside of her crying pretty loud when she's hungry, she doesn't have too many quirks.  She likes too sleep, cuddle and sit in the swing.  We are also working the pacifier - she is my first paci-kid.  

Is the transition to 3 more difficult than the transition to 2?

I don't know yet.  I still have lots of help from family and I have not entered my new reality yet.  But I think with my personality, the transition from 1 to 2 may have been more dramatic.  I really struggled going from all that attention on one daughter to 2 daughters.  And that season in life was really hard.

Who does the baby look like?

I think she looks like our middle daughter.  My mom swears she looks so close to my baby pictures.  A mini-me would be fun. :)

How do you feel?

It's up and down really.  I have days were I am incredibly overwhelmed and other days filled with complete joy.  I have been laughing a lot at all of our kids, which has been encouraging.  And I'm doing a lot better on the days I can take naps, that's for sure!

a cousins day

The girls with their cousin (second cousin, really).  My cousin Ashley came to visit and we enjoyed baby Payton's big smiles.  

2 weeks old

The good stuff:

1. she sleeps on her side with her hands all curled up by her face.  I love that.
2. after her baby baths I just can't put her down...she smells too good.
3. we are still introducing her to family & friends and it has been so much fun.
4. the sisters are crazy about each other.
5. naps are great with a baby.  The baby sounds and the warm cuddles are impossible to beat.

And a few challenges:

1. some babies are not easy to nurse (2 of my babies...very much so).
2. I did not remember the poops at every feeding.  It's incredible to me.
3. I'm not sure when I will feel up for getting out.  It feels like it will be forever until I can confidently get them all 3 out and about, on my own.  

new favorites

i'm starting them young...

If I want to spend a moment on the computer...that moment looks like this.  There is not a lot of free time right now, but there is plenty to enjoy.

wet n' wild wednesday

Wednesday is the kids' favorite club day.  There's lots of water games and they get to soak the club leaders.  I am totally useless this week when it comes to club, but Adam and my mom have been great hosts.  We have seen one little boy pray and put his faith in Jesus, which makes it all worthwhile.

backyard bible club

This is our second year to host a backyard Bible club in our neighborhood.  It feels a little crazy to be doing one this year, having a one-week-old baby.  But Adam and the girls have taken over all the responsibilities and have loved doing it!  They had a good time inviting the neighborhood kids (and getting out of the house with people, I think).  We are excited to have an evening club this year, just for the opportunity to interact with some of the parents.  Adam cooked out for the parents and it allowed some time with our neighbors.

It never fails, if we invite our neighbors over for a cookout and fellowship...it always rains!  Here we are staring at a hard rain and praying that our club could take place.  The rain went away soon after some kids arrived and we had about 8 kids join us.

The thing I love about Bible clubs is that they are led by teenagers from our church.  These guys and gals give away a lot of their time in the summer to train to teach our clubs.  This week our team will lead 4 clubs a day all week long.  They teach the kids a Bible story, play games with them, and share the gospel each day.  My kids love getting to know them.  They really have great influence with these little kids.

the look-a-likes

She loves becoming a big sister.  Our little one has two affectionate big sisters, and I am grateful that they adore her so much.

happy 4th of July

she's here!

Our baby girl is here! She was born on Sunday, June 29th at 3:27pm. She weighed 8lbs 5oz and is 21 inches long. Mom and baby are doing well after a long labor. We are all in love! The big sisters were fascinated with her and can't keep their hands & kisses off of her. We are home getting to know each other now. More pictures to come soon.

with love, Kendall & Adam