Kyla's Blessing Day

On Sunday July 6th we were able to take little Kyla to church and Joel got to give her a name and a blessing. 

It was an extra special day for us because my sister Heather took her baby, Remi to church and my dad gave her a name and a blessing as well. Both babies looked so beautiful in their little white dresses. (Remi is just 6 weeks older than Kyla.)

Kyla was given a beautiful blessing by her dad. She was blessed to be healthy and strong and to be an example to the people around her. We sure are lucky to have this sweet little girl around. She is one well loved little baby. We are so grateful for all of our family that came to church with us for her blessing. All of my brothers and sisters came along with my parents, my grandma, and my aunt Lisa and her girls were there. Joel's parents, his brother Jake and some of his family (the little kids were sick), his sister Janeen, and his sister Joanna came with all of her family (except Tara who was sick.) We are very grateful that they were all able to be there for this event. 

After church we went to my parent's house for dinner and we enjoyed some games and had fun spending time with my family.

I sure do feel so super blessed to have three beautiful little girls. I can already tell that Kyla has come with her own little looks and personality. We have all enjoyed having her around and we are so thankful for the love and support from all of our extended family. We can't wait to get to know this little baby better and to see what she will accomplish in her life.

The Fourth of July

This year for the fourth we started the morning by putting on all of our red white and blue clothes and heading out for the fourth of July parade in Melba. I took my camera but it hasn't been working that great so I only got a few pictures. Little Kyla officially turned 1 month old on this day. We took the double stroller with us to the parade and made Brynlee walk. We sat by Joel's family this year. My dad, Alesha, and my cousin Hailey stopped by to say hi but they didn't stay for very long. Uncle Jake, Joel's brother bought a plate of fries and ketchup before the parade started and Annalyn really enjoyed eating those. Kyla slept through the whole parade. Rachel held her at first and then she gave her to me. Once the parade started Annalyn got scared of the cannon and she would not move from my lap. I gave Janeen the baby and Kyla slept in Janeen's arms for the rest of the parade. Annalyn eventually got up to get some of the candy but Anna and Brynlee were both kind of timid about getting the candy at first. They still ended up with a good sized bag of candy and they enjoyed the parade.

After the parade we went and got two sno cones. The plan was to share them but in the end Joel and I only got a few bites of sno. The baby started to wake up and cry at this point as well so I ended up getting her out of the car seat and carrying her and we figured it was time to leave. Brynlee kept trying to eat her sno cone and walk at the same time and she ended up spilling part of her sno cone, running into several people, and walking so slow that we were forced to take the sno cone away until we got to our van. The air conditioning quit working in there again and it was a super hot day. Much to Joel's disappointment, I had him take us home so that I could feed the baby and make Annalyn take a nap. I wanted her to be able to stay up late. Joel ended up taking a nap in the middle of the living room floor while Brynlee slept and I wrote on the blog. As soon as Annalyn woke up we went over to my grandma's house and roasted hot dogs and marshmallows. It was kind of hot for it and in the end I stayed inside with the baby while Joel and my mom cooked my hot dog and marshmallow. My aunt and cousins were there from Texas and Brynlee had a lot of fun playing with Kennedy and Ryder. My grandma bought some poppers for the kids and my aunt Lora had some cool parachute fireworks that we lit off. It actually launched an army man that flew down with a parachute. The kids loved that. Then we went to visit Joel's parents until it was time for firework. This was the first time in a long time that we went and watched the fireworks from up close.

I was a little bit worried about how Annalyn would do with the fireworks, she is scared of loud noises. At first she was scared but once she realized they were not a threat, she seemed to enjoy them. It was a lot of fun to get to enjoy the fireworks up close. I fed the baby during most of the display so she did great and Brynlee loved them. We had a long walk back to the car but this time I put the baby in the moby wrap so that Brynlee and Annalyn could ride in the stroller. It took us a while to get home but we put the kids in their pajamas and they were asleep almost as soon as they were buckled in their car seats so it was a nice and quiet ride. I love this country where we live and I enjoyed celebrating Independence day with my family.

Kyla - 1 Month

Baby Kyla sure has changed a lot this last month. It has been lots of fun to get to know her and her little personality. To start off Kyla's one month post I am just going to bombard you with a whole bunch of pictures from the last month so that you can really see just how much little Kyla has grown. 

This is Kyla during her first week of life. 

1 Week Old 

2 Weeks Old

3 Weeks Old

4 Weeks Old

Now here is a list of some of the things we have learned so far about this cute little baby that has stolen our hearts.

• Kyla likes to eat and is a really good little nurser. She was eating every 2 hours at first but now she eats every three hours most of the time with one longer stretch as night. 
• Kyla was really fussy the first few days of her life and night time was the worst. We spent one night rocking a crying baby for over two hours. Because of that we brought the swing into our room and let her sleep in there until she woke up to eat or else she would sleep in our bed with us. I hated to do that but it was the only way we got any sleep. Luckily she has not been as fussy at night and she goes to bed without much of a fight. She sleeps in her own bed for about 5 hours and then wakes up to eat. I was feeding her in bed but I kept falling asleep with her in there so then I started feeding her in the living room chair but I was still falling asleep with her and that was a really uncomfortable way to sleep. Now that she can eat much faster, I can usually stay awake long enough to put her back in her own bed. We had one night this month where Kyla slept for 7 hours straight. It was a marvelous night but that hasn't happened again. 
• Kyla likes to sleep with her mouth open.
• Kyla loves to be held, but if you hold her when she is sleeping she is not likely to sleep through it if you move her too much. When you wake her up, she is not a happy baby. 
• Kyla's belly button cord fell off the day before she turned a week old and it looks like she has a serious outie. Apparently she has a belly button hernia and once that heals it will most likely be an innie. She also has a little red growth in her belly button. I took her to the pediatrician on Wednesday to have it looked at because it was still oozing. I forget what her pediatrician called it but she has a little growth on there and we are supposed to heal it by putting table salt in the middle of her belly button two times a day. It feels kind of weird to be pouring salt into my babies belly button but it doesn't seem to bother her. 
• I gave Kyla her first real bath in the baby tub the day her cord came off and she seemed to really enjoy it. At least, she didn't cry through it. She cried during the next bath but most of the time she likes bath time. 
• Kyla is already really strong and she was born with some pretty good head control. 
• She hates being buckled in her car seat but as soon as it starts moving, she does great for car rides. 
• Kyla will not take a pacifier. I keep trying to stick them in her mouth and she just spits them right out. I am not used to having a baby that won't take a soother. 
• I got a moby wrap for the first time and Kyla seems to really like it. Although, if she is in a fussy mood, the moby wrap doesn't help her. If she is tired she will fall asleep in it and I can get some things done.
• Kyla gets lots of love from her big sisters and does a good job at putting up with it. Not that she really has much choice. 
• During her first month of life Kyla has gone to visit all three of her grandmas, two of her grandpas and she has met all of my siblings. On her dad's side she met her Uncle Jake and his family, Janeen and her fiance, plus her Aunt Joanna and her family. (Somehow Joanna didn't find out that we had the baby until she was already a week old but she came to visit as soon as she could.) She also got to meet my aunt and cousins from Texas.
• Kyla got to celebrate Father's Day and Brynlee's birthday this month. She went to her first trip to the mall and rode in the stroller for the first time. She did well in the stroller. She also has gone to church three times. Kyla does great at church during the first hour but she tends to cry for the last hour. It has been hard since I am supposed to teach primary (the 5-6 year olds) during the last hour. My mom teaches the class with me so at least I have her help.
• Kyla has eczema on her face, stomach, and back. I guess it is just a mild case of it and will hopefully go away soon. 
• Kyla spits up a lot. We think she might be having some acid reflux which could be why she cries so much. She cries a lot during the day. She usually cries for a few hours a day. We put her on some medicine that we are hoping will help her. We just started the medicine on Wednesday and we should know whether on not it is helping in a few days. 
• Kyla has dark blue eyes, some beautiful dark hair, some long arms, and the most kissable chubby cheeks. I can't stop kissing them. 
• Kyla weighed 8 lb. at birth, 7 lb. 5 oz. at two days old, 7 lb. 7 oz. at five days old, and she was 8 lbs. 10 oz. at twelve days old. She has already outgrown most of her newborn clothes and is wearing size 1 diapers.
• Kyla now weighs 10 lb. 11 oz. (88.5%) and she is 22 in. long (89.99%) with a head circumference of 15 in. (92.98%). She is seriously growing up too fast. 

We sure do love this sweet little baby. 

June - Life With Kyla

I started out the month of June trying to enjoy my last few days as a mom of two and doing my best to prepare for little Kyla to come. Luckily we didn't have to wait very long since she came on the 4th of June. We sure have enjoyed her and she is already getting bigger and changing. 

On the first day of little Kyla's life, Joel and I were both just really tired since we didn't get much sleep that night. I only slept for maybe two hours at the most. I am glad we didn't have to stay at the hospital for a long time but we both could have used a nap. Joel was still feeling sick from something he ate so he fell asleep on the floor and didn't wake up for anything. I got a short nap while Annalyn was sleeping but Brynlee kept coming in and waking me up. Kyla was up a lot that night too so at first I was really tired. Somehow I forgot about all of the emotions, life changes, and the sleep exhaustion that comes with a new baby. I have seriously enjoyed having a little newborn baby to hold but it was a hard transition at first. I stayed home with the baby for the first few days of Kyla's life. Joel was a huge help by keeping the older girls entertained and taking care of my needs. He even went to the store by himself with both of the older girls. The only place I went for the first week of Kyla's life was to the pediatrician's office and to the birth center (plus grandma's house since she watched the big kids during the appointment.) After that first week I decided that I don't do well when I am cooped up in the house. I was seriously going crazy. I do so much better when I can get out of the house. The kids do much better as well.

Kyla is so little and sweet but it has not been easy to take care of three little kids that all have different needs. Kyla was super fussy for the first week and a half. She would just cry and cry and there was nothing we could do to help her. Joel and I were up with her screaming for two hours one night. There are still days when she will cry for most of the day but we also have good days when she won't hardly cry at all. I keep considering taking her to a chiropractor or to take out dairy from my diet but as soon as I decide to do it, she will have a really good day and she wont cry at all. I think she just has a lot of tummy issues and those things might help but there is no guarantee. I hate to take out dairy and find no improvement. Plus I wouldn't know what to eat. She has actually been sleeping for a good stretch at night. She even slept for seven hours one night and that has really helped things. I do much better when I can get a good nights sleep.  

Annalyn has been very clingy, cuddly, and naughty since the baby was born. She still keeps pretending to be a baby all the time and she has been seriously testing all of the rules and doing all kinds of things she knows she shouldn't do. There have been lots of temper tantrums from her and melt downs over little things. Not to mention, she likes to tease Brynlee and make her cry. And Brynlee cries over just about everything these days. I think there were a few days the first week after Kyla was born when all four of us cried but we made it through it and we are all adjusting well now. I feel like I am finally getting the hang of how to parent three kids. I am still not ready to take everyone out by myself yet but we have been outside to play and we made a few trips to grandma's house. Joel is a huge help when he is home. I wish he could have taken more time off of work. He got three days off plus the weekend. My mom has also helped out quit a bit by taking the older kids for me and she went with me to get the girls pictures taken at the mall and we also went to the library. Kyla cried for the first half of the pictures and Annalyn threw a little temper tantrum in the middle of the library so I am glad I didn't try to do those things by myself. One day my mom took both of the girls to the water park and they had a blast doing that. My mom has also been doing a craft day at her house with all of her grandkids once a week so that has been a lot of fun.

 This month was really busy with Kyla's birth, Brynlee's birthday, father's day, and all of the adjustments that came with a new baby. We didn't do much to celebrate father's day at all. The baby and I went to church for the first time. (Kyla has been to church three times now and she cried during most of the meetings.) Brynlee went up with the primary and sang a song and both girls drew their dad a card. We got him some candy and we gave him the one thing he asked for, a Saturday spent out golfing with his dad and his brother Jake. He really is a great father and he deserves much more than that. He has really stepped up to the plate and done a lot to help out around here. At least he had a lot of fun golfing.

For Brynlee's birthday we got her some better training wheels and fixed up her bike. She has finally figured out how to ride it so we have spent a few different family nights out riding bikes. Annalyn gets pushed on her little trike and I put the baby in the Moby Wrap. We have played in the water slide a few times and spent a lot of time playing with toys in the house. Annalyn has been obsessed with my i-pad. I have to hide it from her or she will be playing on it.

This month was really full of so many blessings for our family. After Kyla was born we had so many people come to visit, bring us food, and offer to help; it was a huge blessing. We really do feel very blessed to have a sweet new little spirit in our home. The girls really do love this little baby and we have all enjoyed holding her and getting to know her. I am grateful that her birth went so well and that she is healthy and thriving. She has already grown so much since the day we brought her home. I am grateful that I have three little girls that bring so much joy, excitement, and laughter into our house. Brynlee has been a huge help to me. She loves to hold the baby so much. Annalyn loves to hold her too but she likes it the best when I hold her. I really do enjoy holding my big little baby Anna so much. I am glad she still likes to cuddle with me. It has been kind of bittersweet to watch little Kyla grow up. I am sure things will get easier once she is a little bit older but I will miss these newborn days with her.