The last 8 weeks

Uh, where did the time go? It's gone by too fast. My little chunker is growing so quickly and is becoming quite alert. Today when I went to put Whitney down for her nap, I came back downstairs to find MacKay in that pink boppy watching tv and smiling. It must be a 'guy' thing.

The last month has found us mostly indoors. I find it ironic that I'm a total germ-a-phobe and we've had some sort of sickness/ailment/fever/ouchie/cold/cough etc. EVERY Saturday in the year 2011. So much for keeping a healthy house, right?

I can't believe it was 8 weeks ago that little 6 lb 11 oz MacKay made his grand (early) appearance. I feel like it's all a blur. I'm trying to remember moments.

My moment that I'll remember this week was this Friday night. The four of us went over to Little Cesar's Pizza. It just happens to be located INSIDE our local Kmart. It makes for a nasty smell every time you walk into Kmart. (Different from the original nasty Kmart smell.)

We sanitized the table, and waited for our hot n ready cheese pizza. It's Whitney & Bart's favorite. Then we just ate and talked and had a good time. MacKay fell asleep on my chest while Whitney asked us what every letter in cursive was. "What letter is that?" I wanted to remember what it was like to be in dental school, eating together, having a good time while we have such little kids. It really feels like we're almost grown ups now. A family of four.

Then we walked over to the toys, and played with them for free. Of course, Whitney wanted to buy everything in sight. We actually did buy her a "poop-on-the-potty" bribe gift. It's a guitar. $7.25 is totally worth NOT having to change poopy diapers anymore.

So far the bribe hasn't worked. She just plays with it in the box and screams and yells at us to take it out. I think she's got her mind made up about WHERE and WHEN she will go #2. Here she is trying to strum the guitar while it's in the box: (pay no attention to the garbage needing to be taken out! Let's face it, housework isn't getting done.)

As for MacKay...

Well, he currently has his first cough. He's been pretty good about it, though. On the nights of February 26-27, he did his first 4-hour sleep stretches. 7.5 weeks old. I was LOVIN it! He's starting to go to bed a bit earlier and be more predictable about what he wants. We're getting there, buddy!

MacKay is patient (except for when he's hungry). I can tell he is just a sweet, sweet boy. He has brought peace into our home with his laid-back nature. I am trying to get in all the loves, cuddles and kisses I can right now because I know pretty soon he'll be pushing me away. He is starting to be able to tell that I am where the food is. He makes little noises when he's in my arms ready to eat. He's pretty quick at eating. Each time he nurses between 5-20 minutes.

He loves to smile at his Daddy and his big sister. He sort of has a little dimple on the right cheek. (Of his face, that is!) His hair is starting to grow-in and we can see his cowlick on the top of his forhead. His little wrinkly skin has been replaced by fat rolls. He absolutely loves his bath and being massaged and tickled.

He's managed to pee on every piece of furniture we own as well as my hair, his face and the kitchen sink. He still grunts and has the red-cherry-colored face when he poops.

He loves to look at "things" that are drastic colors. Black & white are his favorites right now. He is sleeping in the swing right behind me right now. He loves being outside and being carried around in the baby bjorn. There's no place he'd rather be, though, than in Mommy or Daddy's arms. I just love him so much.

We have his 2 month check-up next week. Can't wait to see how he's grown!

Something..

Something very sweet that I love about Whitney is her compliments. Just out of the blue, she'll say something like,

"I love you!"

"I missed you so much!"

"Are you okay?"

She even notices when I get dressed up. (Or dressed for the day!)

She'll say, "Oh! I like your shirt!" She especially loves it if I'm wearing pink. She'll tell me,

"I love pink! It's my favorite. You like purple."

I love my little girl.

(And my little boy, too!)

She is a good big- sister. Very hands-on, if you know what I mean. She has a love for sweets, making treats and snuggling, just like her Mommy. A love for be-boppin to gangsta music, just like her Daddy. She takes care of all of her animals and literally cries (with tears) for them if they get left behind. She doesn't want them to be scared or lonely.

Whitney is all about friends, social events and being with people. Always has been.

She has been a good girl through this adjustment of having someone 'steal the show'. She wants so badly to be a Mommy to MacKay.

She is two-and-a-half this month. 26.2 pounds. Full of energy. Currently is getting over an ear infection which she was very brave about. At the urgent care, she was such a good girl.

Whitney loves anything technological. Cameras, computers, iPhones, iPods, etc. She'll remind Bart to, "Get the iPod!" when we get in the car. She knows ALL of her favorite songs are on the iPod.

Thanks to StarFall, she is learning her letters, their sounds, and how to use a mouse. She tells me daily that she needs her own computer. (Along with a guitar!)

Lately, Whitney has turned into a Daddy's girl. Bart loves it. He only waited about 2 years for this moment. The other day when he came home from school she said, "I missed you so much." She knows how to melt our hearts.

Whitney is potty trained. Still has a "fear" of going #2 on the potty. She likes to use her bed-time diaper to unload. So I guess she is poopy-trained. She does it in a diaper?!

Her one wish? To go to Disneyland. How does she know of this place? Well, that's where ALL the princesses live. And Buzz and Woody live there too. When she sees commercials for Disneyland/Disneyworld, she'll say,

"I want to go there- SO BAD!!" When she saw all the characters on a commercial, she said, "They ALL live there! I want to go there!"

Looks like that is where we need to take our next family trip!

I want to slow down time so I can enjoy this phase of her life.

Oh little June-bug. I love you so much. Thank you for making me a Mommy.

Our Days

Most mornings I dread. I know it's an awful thing to say. But it's the truth. I've never been a morning person, and it's hard to even try to be one when I'm so dang tired. My sweet Whitney walks into my room. Her nighttime diaper is off, and she's wearing some pair of princess undies. I just know her wet diaper is sitting on the bathroom countertop. If Bart's lucky, it's wet-side-down on top of his contact case. She usually has about 14 stuffed animals in her hands and is saying,

"Look! I put on my princess underwears!"

Followed by:

"Let's go downstairs!" "Let's eat dinner!"

I usually reply something very nurturing like,

"Mommy's tired!" or

"You go down, I'll be there in five minutes!"

I'm not sugar-coating this blog post if you couldn't tell.

Today I was really proud of myself. I got out of bed and put on clothes. (Baby steps, right?) After eating breakfast and putting up Whitney's play-tent, I not only put on my exercise clothes, but I actually DID work out. MacKay slept through the work-out and Whitney was downstairs joining me for pull-ups and watched Cinderella. After my workout we slow-danced to "So This Is Love" as we watched Cinderella and the Prince dancing.

MacKay is six weeks and I'm happy to report he's sleeping 18 hours... broken up by feedings every 2-3 hours AROUND the clock! Ha! You were about to be jealous, right? He's a good little baby and is very loved by everyone in this house. He is pretty good at tummy time. He can prop up his body on his arms and stay there for a while. Tonight he was standing so strong on Bart's lap.

Whitney is still a little wipper-snapper.

It's currently 9:21 pm and she is in her bed yelling, "I want some chips!" Say what?

Now she's saying, "I need my sheep!!"

Yes, sweetie. Calm down and start counting sheep.

These days will pass quickly, I know. Babies are only babies for so long. And I know I will miss this.

You know why Whitney is smiling in the picture above? Could it be because she is adding a secret ingredient to these chocolate muffins? No worries, I kept the cap on the bottle. We used cow's milk.

So this is love:

Sorry MacKay. I rubbed off your hair when I was washing it a few weeks ago. Let's hope it grows back soon!

Silly girl:

One Month MacKay

MacKay is one month (well, he was a week and a half ago). He is still a very sweet baby and is such a snuggler. We absolutely love having him in our family. Whitney is especially interested in EVERYTHING about MacKay. She loves to hold, burp, rock, touch, kiss, squeeze, pat, snuggle, nuzzle etc. etc. him. Let's just say if she could actually breastfeed him, she would.

MacKay likes to eat every three hours around the clock. This makes for a very tired Mommy, a Daddy who sleeps on a blow-up mattress in Big Sister's room, and a Big Sis who likes to wake up early in the morning. I'm sure we'll get this two-kid thing figured out one of these days, right?

At his one month appointment he weighed in at a whopping 9 lbs 12 oz. Then at another doctor's appointment just yesterday (a week later) he weighed 10 lbs 12 oz. My little piggy is steadily gaining weight and I love his new chub.

MacKay seems pretty laid back. I am trying not to hold my breath, but I also am crossing my fingers that this little guy keeps up his happy attitude. MacKay is good about nursing (getting much faster), drinking breast milk from a bottle, sucking on a binkie and drinking nasty formula on an occasion. He only gets frustrated when he chokes on my milk... but that's pretty understandable. I mean, we all need to breathe, right? He will sleep through just about anything, but is starting to awaken to a screaming 2-year-old. He knows his Mommy's voice (and smell) and will start to calm down when I hold him. MacKay loves to giggle in his sleep and knows how to roll from his tummy to his back. I don't think he's aware that he's actually rolling, but he can hold up his head pretty well when he's on his tummy, and then he just looks to the side and starts rolling.

Just today he gave me a real smile, which I loved. He also gave his Daddy a smile this morning, which Bart loved too.

One other thing I always want to remember about MacKay is his little machine-gun noise he makes constantly.

We're hanging in there. Watching a lot of t.v... but hoping the weather will get better soon and we can go on some walks. Yesterday, I braved an outing with two kids by myself. Maybe I'll wait a while before I do that again. We went to the library and then over to a doctor's appointment. The library went well, but after spending too much time in a small room with two tired, hungry kids- I was ready to stay home for a bit longer.

Since we don't get out much, here are some pictures of what we've been up to the last month.

Big sister is helping by giving MacKay one of her old binkies.

Just after a bath:

Tummy time:

In a car seat.. so tiny:

First bath.. needed to calm him with some milk: Doesn't this seem really relaxing to you?

Mommy and two kiddos:

More tummy time:

4 weeks exactly:

Do you think he's had enough?