Bye Bye Paci's...

Yep, bye bye paci's...it's so bittersweet to type that.  What a huge accomplishment, though, for a little girl who has been comforted by her paci's since the first day she was born.  Literally.  In NICU, they use paci's to help get preemie's to practice the art of sucking, since that is not usually "learned" in the womb until around week 37.  So when you are born at 35 weeks, sweet NICU nurses attempt to teach you to suck / swallow / breathe outside the womb.  And Kinsley loved her paci from the start.  Seems like that was just yesterday...


Kinsley's paci has always been present.  I don't think that we have gone anywhere without one in at least arms reach in case of meltdown from a tired / cranky baby or toddler.  She sleeps - I mean slept (past tense) - with no less than 3 in her crib or bed.  When she was little, it was not uncommon to see her with a paci hooked to her bib, shirt or swimsuit with her little paci-clip.  We took many-a-photos with paci present, sometimes getting in the way of her sweet smile.  It was common to see her fall asleep in one in her mouth and one in each hand.  She never took to a stuffed animal or "lovie" that she had to take everywhere with her and fall asleep with...it always was, and always has been, just her paci's.


But last Thursday night, out of nowhere, after a successful poopie in the potty & bath as we were getting ready for bedtime, I asked Kinsley if she still needed her paci's..."Big girls go potty in the big potty and don't need their paci's!" I said, sort-of flippantly.  "Do you want me to just throw these in the trash can?" "Okaaay..." she replied, catching me completely off guard.  I immediately backpedaled.  I mean, I couldn't just throw them in the trash can!  So I said, "Kinsley, do you want to give them to baby Carter?" and once again, she replied "Okaaay!" and hopped off her bed and marched right into what will be the nursery (which she already sweetly refers to as "baby's room") and dropped two paci's right into the crib.  Then she marched back into her room and we high-fived.  That night, she finally fell asleep - albeit, it took a little longer than normal - sans the paci's.  Then the next day at school, same thing, no paci for her nap and she slept for an hour and a half.  And just like that.  That was the end of the paci's.  This trend continued all weekend.  A team effort by mommy, daddy, BeeBe, MayMay, and her teacher at school = to resist that sweet face asking for her paci before bedtime or nap time.  Everyone knew the response about her giving them to the baby, and Kinsley, my strong little trooper, seemed to understand each time.

What we didn't anticipate was a 102 fever that hit Kinsley later this past weekend, her first time with Strep Throat, and as I discovered when she was crying with her mouth wide open at the doctor, her back molars breaking through the surface of her little gums.  Ugh, I knoooow, seriously, what a weekend to begin "Operation Bye-Bye-Paci," right?  But as much as I wanted to give her a paci 'cause she wasn't feeling good, I knew that we couldn't go backwards.  We were already days into a successful start.  So here we are, a week later, and while she's still not 100% well, she has almost stopped asking for her paci's completely.  They have been cleaned and stored way up high in a cabinet in a ziplock bag.  'Cause mommy doesn't have the heart to throw them out.  They were one of the last things that was keeping my big girl as my baby.  I am so proud of my girl.  All we have left is the transition out of diapers (who knows when that will happen) and she will be 100% big girl.  Makes me sad and happy all at the same time...relieved & proud, yet anxious, 'cause I know there's a whole new baby experience arriving in just four short months.

Feeling him kick...

It happened this morning, at 20 weeks/4 days, and it was just as awesome & special as when it happened with Kinsley: Philip got to feel his baby boy kick this morning while we were laying in bed.  Carter is getting more and more active and I can feel him kick and punch all the time now.  It took me a little longer to feel him than with Kinsley because of the different location of my placenta this time, but I finally started to feel Carter's first flutters about a week & a half ago.  Now that he's finally a little over the "size of a banana," he must have also gotten a lot stronger in the last week & a half as well, cause Philip got have that same experience this morning as I previously did.  I think the pregnancy always gets more "real" when you can feel a little baby moving inside you.  And I loved Philip's reaction, as he laid there with his hand on my belly: "Oh wow - Stace, I think he is gonna be an active one."  Ahh yes, just like our little girl.  We are gonna be busy.  In fact, I got a little taste of what life will be like: 10 minutes before my alarm went off, I awoke to a cry from Kinsley on the monitor and a kick/jab from baby Carter in my belly, simultaneously...like, Mom, get up, you will never get to sleep-in ever again!  Agh!  Life is gonna get both exhausting and exciting here in a few months!

Halfway Through May (and Pregnancy!)

May has brought about...

My 3rd blessed Mother's Day (spent with family, our baby girl, and our baby boy on the way); sunny, warm evenings with post-dinner strolls outdoors; 20-weeks and the halfway-point through our pregnancy!; girlie-time with Kinsley and mommy involving some pink nailpolish and 10 sweet little toenails; Kinsley counting everything, all the time, and getting our attention with her new favorite sayings: "Mama / Dada, WOOK (look)!" and "Mama / Dada, I do it!"; Kinsley's plethra of boo-boo's lately (I keep telling people that a boy will not be a whole lot different from the acive girl we were blessed with) and her new obsession with band-aids that depict Dora or a Disney princess; me saying "Kinsley, you are a silly goose!" and her replying "I'm not a goose, I'm a princess!" everytime;  more potty-practice and success!; and lots of family time already spent on the lake!  

My special, handmade Mother's Day cards.  Looove them.

Enjoying a delicious Mother's Day brunch at Danny & Angela's house!

Daddy/Daughter after-dinner stroll at The Forum - they are twins - seriously, look at the direction of their heads, their left hands, and their stride.  Twins.

~

One of Kinsley's Mama, I do it! moments: washing her hands.  I must say, I love that she loves doing this healthy habit, even if it is "all by herself." :)

~ Days and Evenings Spent on the Water = Happy Family! ~

~Kinsley's First Pretty Pink Polished Toenails~

~

 And finally, proof that we are halfway through our pregnancy journey to meet our baby Carter:
the growing 20 Week baby bump!

18 Weeks!

Our "20 week" (at 18 weeks) appointment on Monday went as well as could be expected!  We found out Baby Carter is definitely all boy, as he gave us a nice "underneath profile" shot just as they started the ultrasound.  His heart was a constistent 142 bpm's (as it's been in the 140's most of this pregnancy) and all of his organs - his heart, lungs, brain, facial features, legs, arms, hands, feet, stomach, kidneys, you name it - all checked out healthy and normal!  What a blessing!!!  They are estimating him to weigh a whopping 9oz right now, which is right on par as 18-weeker's should average around 7oz.  So, question is, where are all of mama's extra lb's coming from?  :)

Here's a look at me and Carter at the 18 week mark - and of course, photos of little Miss Kinsley doing what she does best!

Baby bump at 18 1/2 Weeks!

 Yep, this is definitely a boy!

 Hard to see this clearly, but it's a close-up image of Carter's facial profile, and it looked as if he was sucking his thumb.  Adorable.

Hunter catching some Zzzz's.  Hard to believe that our "first baby" will be 10 at the end of May!

Kinsley doing her best impression of Hunter.

As follow-up from the last blog post, one of Philip's many landscaping projects underway - lining the sidewalk and driveway with stone.

 This child does not like wearing swimsuits and would rather run around naked as a jaybird!  We are working on changing this habit before her swim classes start up again the first week of June!  

 Having fun with her new water table!

Seriously, I leave the kitchen for a few minutes without the child-proof latch on the pantry and this is what happens...

 My little helper!

Out shopping one night - our little country girl!

Where did April go?

It's May tomorrow?  Already?  How?  April has flown by and I am so excited that Summer is officially right around the corner!  This will be my first "Summer experience" in the education world, and boy am I excited!  Only four more full weeks of school and the it's part-time for the next couple of months!  Whoo-hoo!  That means lots of fun Kinsley-mommy time ahead!

Kinsley has been a busy little bee since turning two back in March, and I wanted to capture some fun little random photos I had in my phone, as well as all of her latest "happenings."  In the past several weeks, we have begun the potty-training process.  Not totally seriously, yet.  But just beginning to get her comfortable and acquainted with the big-girl potty.  We took a trip to Target where she got to pick out her Dora (of course) potty seat for the big toilet at home.  So far, she has gone pee-pee twice AND (this was amazing) poo-poo twice as well!  Now, we're nowhere near ready for a diaperless tush just yet, but we are making progress and she is starting to understand the "feeling" of needing to go and gets really excited when she does it, evening literally shouting "hurray, I did it!"  She she loves flushing the toilet, although she knows she can only flush if she goes.  This process is going to take a LOT of patience from mommy, as we have been known to sit there for 20 minutes or longer before she has gone.  We tell lots of stories about "Princess Kinsley," read books, make funny faces, practice counting to ten, etc.  Speaking of counting, she's getting better and can almost count 1 to 6.  Except lately, she skips from 2 to 5, poor numbers 3 and 4 just get left out.

Kinsley's speech has taken-off for some reason in the past month as well.  She's always been a chatter-box, most of the time it's been in her own baby-jibberish language, but now she is making full sentences all the time now and can communicate to us just about everything that she needs / wants.  Her memory is unbelievable and she is zeroing in on things, like billboards or radio towers for instance, as we are driving down the road and will repeat what she sees until you let her know that you see it too!  And don't tell her you are going to do something or go somewhere and then not do it...she will definitely remind you later!  And unfortunately for mommy and daddy, she has also gotten very good at communicating her feelings when she doesn't get something that she needs / wants...yes, we have experienced our share of your classic, run-of-the-mill 2-year-old meltdowns.  They are extremely overdramatic, and actually pretty funny  sometimes in the privacy of our home (not so much if we are out in public).

We're still adjusting to the big girl bed!  Still haven't completed the bedding / decorating process, but she loves her bed.  She's definitely going to bed later, not sure if it's the new bed or the change in daylight savings and the sun staying out longer, but her bedtime has definitely moved back.  Tougher on mommy and daddy, that's for sure.  We're just still adjusting to falling asleep (that seems to be the hardest part), cause once she's asleep, she does really well.  Except for the three times that she has made her way to the foot of the bed, and despite my make-shift barricade of pillows, has rolled OFF the bed into the floor.  It startles her AND us, but after a few tears, she easily falls back asleep and seems to not remember falling off the bed when she wakes back up in the morning.  But, boy, that "thud" of your child hitting the bedroom floor can make your heart jump...I am just glad that we went with the "low-profile" box spring for her mattress set!

And as for baby Carter, Kinsley is already calling him by that name!  She will tell or show you where he is in mommy's belly, but then sometimes she will also go over to Philip and point to his belly too, so not sure that she totally gets it!  But we are starting to stock up on some blue items around the house, and she is pretty good with understanding that "this is for baby Carter."  I even caught her testing out Carter's blue Bumbo that I found in perfect condition at a local consignment sale!

Our next appointment for baby Carter is next Monday.  I will be just over 18 weeks (and feeling good!) and they are going to do the routine "20 week" anatomy analysis, where they confirm he is in fact a boy :) and check his heart, brain, organs, etc...so hopefully all looks healthy and perfect with our sweet little baby!  Here is the image (that I never posted before) from the ultrasound tech when we found out our baby is a boy at 15 weeks!  It's not as clear as they couldn't get a good position with the "belly" u/s scanner and had to check my cervix / placenta anyway with the "other" u/s version (you mom's out there know what version that one is).  Luckily, he was "sitting" and they got a good shot of him from underneath!

So here are a couple of photos from the past month or so...Spring has come and gone and Summer is on officially the way!

 Getting ready to go to school!

 Home from school, laid out on the rug in the den watching Little Einsteins, with her little jean skirt hiked up around her sweet monogrammed bloomers.  So cute.  

Kinsley at school with her classmates!

 Can you tell it was dress-up day?  :)

 Playing at the park!

 Mommy has already "popped" at just under 16 weeks!

 Philip got a new yard toy...a big yard toy.  I need to post some photos of the work that he has put into our yard lately.  It looks amazing.  Thanks hon!

Kinsley loves helping out with mommy's chores around the house: she will come running to help out with uploading the dishwasher, putting clothes from the washer into the dryer, and sweeping in the kitchen... Exhibit A: "her" Swiffer.  

 Mom, do you mind if I break in this new Bumbo seat for baby Carter?  I want to be sure it works okay.

  

 Yep, nice and sturdy.   

 Okay, well, I think I will just chill here for a little while and watch Mickey Mouse.

 First boat ride of the season - she was a little unsure about the motor and waves at first...but 15 minutes in, she was an old pro and loved being out on the water in "dada's boat!"  

 Dinner by the lake!

 Such a big girl - loves to have her own "big" cup and has a new crazy obsession with straws!

 Sunny weather in the upper 80's calls for the baby pool to come back out of the storage room!

 Can you believe these adorable curls?  And coming from a mommy and daddy that both have stick-straight hair?  Ahhh, LOVE!!!