BLEH!!!!

Kennedy has her first COLD! Poor baby!!! Someone over Christmas gave it to her!!! (WHO WAS IT?!?!?!?)

I am mad because I knew that people can be contagious before showing symptoms, and I felt guilty asking family to wash their hands and keep her away from their face.... now I feel like an ASS for not doing it. Hearing her cough breaks my heart (the sneezing is too cute to mind).

We will have to spend some time in the shower and help her get all that yucky stuff out.

On a more positive note, she has *just* started sitting up unassisted. She can actually stay that way for a while, and she will lean all the way forward for a toy, and then pick herself back up!

We have had a lot of firsts recently!

(And a note on the solids... I quit giving her the rice cereal after she didn't poop for 4 days... I tried everything!(water, juice, thermometer, suppository) Nothing worked. For some reason my "mommy instincts" say that I don't want to give it to her anymore, so I'm not.

We will be starting on the purees this week instead (Prunes too!)

Some More Christmas Pics

I got a new camera for Christmas... so expect LOTS of pics : )

"Ma ma ma ma ma ma"

That is the new sound in our house : )

Kennedy has learned how to use her voice and finds it quite funny when she is imitated.

Angelina and Christina (Kennedy's Aunties) came over for the last two days : )

They have all enjoyed it, and me too :)

Tomorrow I am in for a new "do" and plan to spend some "mommy time" making myself pretty

I *think* Kennedy has her first cold... she is coughing (not bad) and has been sneezing all day : (

We are getting ready to ring in the new year... I wonder what 2010 has in store for us ; )

Toy assembly! UGH!

I never thought about how much work it would be to assemble all the toys Kennedy got for Christmas... AFTER you get them out of the package! LOL!!

She got some of the best toys and books a little lady could ask for... and they came with some serious assembly instructions! LOL!! (I should have bought stock in Energizer, Fisher-Price and Playschool!)

On the 24th we went to Grandma's and Grandpas for Pizza Hut (a new family tradition!) and opened presents there (she spent WAY too much!!!... but Kennedy didn't mind) Then we came home and Grandma came over for dinner and "How the Grinch Stole Christmas". We got up in the morning and had cinnamon rolls and presents (and she spent way too much also!!!... again.. Kennedy didn't mind)

We got our things together and traveled to Brad's Grandma's house for some time with the cousins and more presents ; )

Made a quick stop by Ken and Karen's house for some time on the way to my dad's house.

It was a great first Christmas for Kennedy, and we are all still getting used to all the new fun stuff in the house!

We have just a few more weeks together, then I have to start my student teaching : (

At least she will be in good hands while I am there, and she will get to spend more time with her daddy : )

(Christmas pictures to come!)

Solids... here we come!!

Kennedy in her dress!!! AWWWWW!!!

The family at our Christmas Gathering!!!

Kennedy and my cousin Steve : )

Kennedy has begun down the path to not needing me anymore (::tear::).

We are starting her on solids (after getting the "go ahead" from her Pedi, so don't worry) now that she can tri-pod sit up and is showing A LOT of interest in our food and what we are eating.

It's soooo bitter sweet... after having soooo many struggles with nursing in the beginning... it seems like such a big step...

(I remember NOT being a mom... and thinking that moms were CRAZY for the feelings that they had towards crazy things like this.... funny now! LOL!!)

Brad and I sat down with the person that will be taking care of Kennedy when the Grannies aren't. She is great! Will dish more about her later! : )

I wanted to ask everyone for thoughts and prayers for a few people I know, struggling with infertility, and after trying so hard... They deserve a healthy pregnancy and any help in the prayers department are GREAT! (When praying... think Christmas.... and Green Halls... all decked out.... God knows who you mean!) : )

5 Months~!

And now Kennedy has learned how to roll from her tummy to her back... with limited success, but she still tries!

It's kinda funny.... because I put her on the blanket... and "there she goes!!" LOL!!!

Last night she slept TERRIBLE!! OMG!!! She didn't go to sleep till 2am and then was up at 4:30, 7:30(rocked back to sleep), 9:00, 10 (finally nursed and rocked back to sleep), then up again at noon.

I *think* it's the teeth comming in.

Not a typical night for her... or for us... OH... I'm tired! LOL!!

Then earlier she was fussing to no avail... so I put her down..... Must have worked, because she is rolling all over the place... happy as can be!

Pictures!!!

Not just momma wears the baby! Go Tracy!

Apparently... she is done with the swing! LOL!!

He He!! New toys RULE!

AWWWW!!!

Couch potatoes! : )

It's bitter-sweet~!

All the family around these days.

Josie's mom (we call her Oma) passed away last week after being ill for a while and suffering through a stroke.

That's the bitter part (like my grandma passing as well).

The sweet part is that all the family has been able to be together! It's nice.

My aunts/uncles/sisters are in from out of town, and it feels good to be together!

On other notes;

Kennedy slept in her bassinet in her room for a couple nights, then moved to her crib two nights ago.... and it's going well!!

She doesn't seem to mind, and almost likes sleeping in a quiet room better. I think Brad and I were keeping her up/waking her up.

We are looking into who will take care of her when I start my student teaching, and so far we have the grandma's 3 days a week and a nanny the other two.

My sister is talking about moving back to CA, so maybe I can convince her to take the other two days till she finds a job! ; )

Wish us luck!!!

Kennedy will be sleeping in her very own room tonight!!!

::tear:: My baby is growing up too fast!

We will keep her in the bassinet for another few nights... although I don't know how... she is almost H2T (Head to toe) in there! YIKES!!

I (with the help of Grandma) made black-out shades for the room so it's like ours and she is good to go!

Then we will try having her in the crib later in the week.

She has an appointment with her pedi on Wed (for vaccinations) and so does her cousin Kingston (also for vaccintaitons).... looks like Thanksgiving will be *fun* this year : /

Brad picked out a cute dress for her to wear (pics to come) and we only paid $0.44 for it! It was on sale (50 or 60% off... can't remember) and it made it $10.44 and we had a $10 off cupon! AWESOME!!!

Upper GI

Kennedy had her upper GI this morning, the worst part was that she couldn't eat prior to the procedure (to make sure that she would eat/drink the barrium).

She drank it down, not a problem, and was suuuuuuuch a good baby! She kept "talking" and smiling at everyone.

I didn't sleep at all last night worrying... glad there was nothing to worry about. The radiologist(sp?) said that everything looked normal, so we will see what the specalist says Friday.

What's been going on....

WHEW! What hasn't been happening....?

WE had my grandma's services on Saturday the 7th, and we had my aunt Mary, cousins Millie and Jane, Melissa and her son Bo, Aunt Judy and Bob all in town.

Sunday Brad got ready to head to Boston for the week for training and I spent a few days at mom's house. Kennedy slept like CRAAAAAAP there, so we only spent one night there.(she slepr 12 hrs when we got home) She has been super fussy still.... better than before, but still... UGH!

I think her teeth hurt a lot! She is pulling on her ears and drooling, and chewing everything. I hope some cut through soon just to give her relief! (not excited about breastfeeding and teeth... but it comes with the territory).

I have been doing research to find a nanny/sitter to watch K when I start my student teaching in January. While I am getting excited to be the "teacher" Sharra.... the "mommy" Sharra is super sad. Leaving her will be tough!

We are looking into the Grandmas watching her as many days a week as possible. She will only need care from about 1pm-4pm(or 3:30... depending on the day) so we are hoping that not putting her in a facility/in home will be possible.

She started rolling over on the first, and that has been fun. At first she couldn't hold her head up with her arms, and got frustrated quick. She has gotten better, and now LOVES tummy time. Shocker for me... because every time I put her on her stomach she threw up (reflux) so I didn't do it often. She has mastered the back-to-tummy, but struggles and rarely does the tummy-to-back.

On the reflux note. Monday the 16th she has her Upper GI, where she drinks barium and they do an x-ray to make sure that all the plumbing works right. I hope it does, because if it doesn't.... she heads into surgery. Not excited about that possibility at all.

4 Months!

She's a rollin!

She rolled over on the 1st, after I told Val that I thought she never would! LOL!

Difference a year makes

November 4th, 2008. Obama was elected, gay marriage was revoked, I was fired....and I got this!


November 4th, 2009

Kennedy 4 months old!!! And I got this smile!!!!

My LC (Martha) RULES!!!

AHHH!!!

I just love her!!! I made an appointment today to see her, I was worried that I had supply issues again because Kennedy is soooo fussy, gassy and is having slimey, boogery, green poops.

I thought it may be supply.... or milk alergy..... she seems to think that it's a foremilk/hindmilk imbalance and that K is getting too much of the low-fat "skim" milk instead of enough of the creamy "whole" milk that is easier to digest.

Simple fix, don't switch sides.

Let's see if it works! : )

Halloween Fun!

Here we are dressed up for Val & Jason's party! In case you couldn't tell, we are Captian Hook, Mrs. Smee, "Peter Dan" and Tinkerbell! AWWWWW!!! HUGE thanks to my mom, for helping me make the costumes! On the 31st my dad (AKA Mrs. Doubtfire! LOL!!) and the ladies came over... kinda funny... Josie looked like one ugly man, dad made one ugly woman, and the girls looked great!

We took the baby to the pumpkin patch for some pictures! AWWWW!!!

YUP! She's cute!

And a bunch of other things.

Kennedy has been soooooooooooooooooooooooooo fussy lately! UGH! I actually DO have a reflux baby! We changed her meds on the 19th and she hasn't been the same since. Her DR called and we went back to the Regalan...another UGH.

I can't tell what the problem is.... gas?.....teething?.....attention? .... I don't know... but something has to give!

I have to go.... K is fussing : (

Getting used to the idea

I'm kinda getting used to the idea if going back to work and leaving Kennedy witrh a strainger... kinda, still trying.



She has started teething... UGH! SHe is fussy and wants to be held all the time and drools everywhere, fists in the mouth and is waking up in the middle of the night.



She is also getting better at sitting up assisted and no longer wants to be held like a baby, she thinks she is over that stage! LOL!!!



I went and ogt my flu shot... still tracking down the H1N1..... UGH! Kennedy had a Drs appt and we scheduled the Upper GI for sometime next month.



Brad is going to Boston for a training session for an entire week, boooo for K and I.

Grandma passed.

My Grandma passed away early this morning.

While we are all happy that she is with God, we are selfishly sad that she is gone.

Will will miss her.

3 Months!

Another week bites the dust.

Saturday the 10th we went to Claremont to take some family pictures with Kennedy…. FAIL! She wouldn’t look at the camera, or smile : ( Instead we made plans for us to go back to see Val the following Wednesday.

Sunday the 11th, we baptized our Godson Cole : )

I guess Vegas doesn't mind her....LOL!!! : )

She ROCKS at the air guitar!

Brad had Monday off (YEAH Columbus day!), Tuesday I did….um… can’t remember….
Wednesday we went to see Auntie Val because Kennedy didn’t do too well with her first round.
Thursday, I went to the pharmacy to pick up some prescriptions. I had them filled online, then when I got there, they said that they weren’t ready. So I waited around, with a 3 month old, in the pharmacy where everyone has SWINE FLU! YUCK! (Brad’s co-worker ended up getting it and called off all week!) They finally filled it, then lost one…. UGH….. Next time I need a RX during cold/flu season I will mail orfer that stuff! Too risky!

Friday we (Kennedy, dogs and I) went to Grandmas to get everything ready for the garage sale on Saturday.
Up at 5:45…. Oh…. Was I tired! Kennedy slept great at a new house!! So proud! By the end of the day we were tired, and my Grandma (mom’s mom) wasn’t doing well, and went into the hospital. She went off to be with her, and we all came home (mommy took a nap! AHHH!) She seems to be doing better! We keep praying.
Jewel’s memorial service was today (Sunday) and because mom was at the hospital, and Grandma Josie was sick, I didn’t have anyone to leave Kennedy with (Brad had chores to do around the house… he SWEARS that he could have done them all while watching K……. ::snicker:: )

On a more Kennedy note: She has started babbling and teething. I will try to see if I can upload a video of her “talking” : )
Tomorrow, Kennedy has a GI DR appt and Brad has to call about Jury Duty… and that’s about it…. For now!

OH!

Take a look at this news story!

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-elsinore-bomb9-2009oct09,0,2852670.story?track=rss

OMG!!!

A licensed daycare, here in Lake Elsinore (somewhere I could have taken Kennedy!)



In other news, K has started talking.... all the time! LOL!!! She giggles and screams like a typical little girl! LOL!!

I will have some pics soon, we are going to Auntie Val's to take some more pictures!!! YEAH!!

Been a while!

Sorry!

I have been in a funky mood and Blogging was one of the last things on my mind.

I thought I would update what has been going on the last two weeks.

Here are some pictures of Kennedy's new cousin Kingston!

http://valerieackermanphotography.com/blog/?p=364

He is sooo cute and soft! Look at that hair!! Kennedy is jealous!! : )
Kennedy’s aunt Stephanie came over with the other aunties and we went swimming.
Brad had inventory that weekend so I went over to Val’s house, was there while she was taking the pictures. Jason was busy with the fair still.
We went to the fair!! They had $1 admission and $1 sodas! It was fun!! Kennedy LOVED it! She only fussed when she wanted to be fed and loved her stroller and wrap.

She got a hat to keep her out of the sun, and EVERYONE stopped to look and awe at her! : )

Brad and I went to the http://www.piratesdinneradventure.com/california/buena_park/index.html on Wednesday. It was a lot of fun! Jason told us about a deal where we got in for only $20 a person! That included the pre-show, appetizers, dinner and two beers each. Josie and Christina came over to watch the baby, poor Angelina was sick with the Flu, so we didn't take Kennedy over there : (

My mom is still on vacation on the east coast (comes back tomorrow!!! YEAH!!!)
(Another reason why I have been in a funky mood, Val has been busy with the boys, mom is gone, and Brad has been working a lot, so I am (and feel so) alone with the baby.)
Kennedy got a few more shots, did well with them too! Just got a little sleepy!
I went shopping and got her some cute clothes! Pictures to come!!

Help for a friend.

Someone who supported me, now needs our help. Jewelyn.

She went into labor with her first daughter after struggling through a miscarriage, and needed an emergency C-section.

She developed an amniotic fluid embolism and disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC). She lost all brain activity and her husband (Phil) will be removing her from life support later today(from what I understand).

Her daughter (Gabrielle) is doing OK (again, what I heard) and is at the UCLA medical center.

We have set up a PayPal account through another friend (Irma) to get Phil and Gabrielle some extra money so he can take time off to stay with the baby and grieve.

The email address is 4jewelyn@gmail.com if you go to http://www.paypal.com/ and click Send Money.

Any amount is appreciated as well as your prayers and good thoughts!

Edit; Jwelyn passed away at 11:30 (more than likely after this post was made) he husband updated us this morning.

Here is a link to Amy's blog with her maternity photo. http://elmwoodcourt.blogspot.com/2009/09/for-gabby.html

Kennedy has a new cousin!!!

Val gave birth to another boy at 7:11 pm!~

He is 7lbs 15oz and 20.5" long!

Dark hair and grey eyes! AWWWWW!!!!

Pictures to come!!!

Another fun weekend!

Here is Kennedy with her Great Grandma Leary (Look at those smiles!!)

Now here she is with her Daddy!!! AWWWW!

And here with Grandma Bayer!!! : )

Friday we had LOTS of visitors!!! Amanda and Karen came over and brought In-N-Out (YUUUUM!!) then Mareena cam over and told me all about her honeymoon in New York!! : )

Later Michelle came over, with Alex and Dan, we BBQed it up! Brad was home before 10! That was nice too!!!

We were in the spa till 3am... (I was tired!)

Saturday was spent in the pool. My guess the last time this year, tomorrow is the first day of Fall.

Sunday we went to Brad's Grandmas and had Vince's Spaghetti! Jason and Val were there, I'm sure she was excited, I was, she is being induced today to have her second son!

Glad that's over.... whew!

The weekend that is! LOL!!

Mom came over Friday and we worked around the house, because Saturday we invited the neighbors over (about 50) for a pool party, the only ones who came were the neighbors directly across/next to us, not a real shocker.

Then on Sunday we went wine tasting, YUM! It was all adults (even though we didn't always act like it LOL!) and noooooo kids : ) (Grandma came over and watched Kennedy, they had fun!)

Afterwards we went in the pool, prob the last time for the summer. We couldn't have asked for better weather for a day in the pool, then wine tasting, then the pool again.

Monday (Brad took off) and the weather was all changed, but it was a great Fall day.

Kennedy would have to disagree... she got her first round of shots : (

We only gave her two, and I am glad that I stuck to that decision. She slept ALL DAY... she wasn't having anything other than feeding, cuddles, and sleep. I can't imagine giving her MORE than that....

She has to go back in 2 weeks, and then the next week have an "upper GI" done where they look at her reflux... they know she has it... why do it??... I donno....

2 Months!

Labor Day Weekend!

We did WAY too much!

Saturday Brad and I went swimming and then to Costco, Albertsons, and Staters! WHEW~! (Gotta get them sales! LOL!)

Juan and Angel cam over that night and we just visited.

Sunday Dad, Josie, the girls, Albert and Teresa and Dan came over, in the pool we went! We BBQed ribs (YUM!) Guests left around 11pm and we went to bed.

Monday mom came over and we BBQed steaks (another YUM!).

All the cooking, cleaning, washing, bleh.... took it out of us.

Kennedy didn't appreciate it much either... she was sleeping from 1-2am till 8:30 and that became 7:30 on Sat, 6:30 on Sun, and 5am on Monday....bleh!!

I think she needs to be fed more often than 7 times a day, and that's what happens when mom is busy entertaining guests.

So Tuesday I tried to feed her more, but still this morning she woke up @ 6:30, gonna give it another shot today! Concentrate on feeding her ALL DAY and making sure that she eats last thing before bed.

I am also keeping track of her naps, it's tough to know how much she has slept from day to day, and like any other baby, she gets CRANKY when tired, but if I don't remember when that last nap was, I try feeding, burping, ect. instead of making her take a nap.

It's all trial and error at this point!

8 Weeks!

Here are some pictures of Kennedy haveing some ne'ked time! LOL!! She seemed to like it! : )

We had a rough night/morning where she fussed all the time and then didn't sleep... then this afternoon, she slept just great and hardly said a word....er... well.. you know! LOL!!

She has another GI specailit appt on Friday. Of course it's again in Fontana and @ 3:30!.... oh!... yeah!... on a holliday weekend! BLEH!

I think that we will visit her Auntie Val and have lunch and hang out, then fight the traffic home. I'd rather be home than anywhere else, everything is here! All K's stuff and I feel the most comfortable.

I remember about a year ago watching Brad and Vanessa's kids while they went wine tasting, and I thought "how does ANYONE do this?!?!" but it was because they weren't my kids and I didn't have any of their stuff, K has showed me that it's all about the stuff! LOL!!

The weekend is over!

WHEW~!

Kennedy and I are soooo tired!!

Saturday we went to Jimmy's house in Fontana, for Riley's 2nd birthday party in the pool. It was over a 100 outside and the heat made it sooo hard for her to sleep : (

Sunday we went to her Auntie's baby shower and that was outside too! HOT! I actually remembered something Val said about taking the baby for a car ride after that horrible day last week, so I did.

We got in the car and drove around, she fell asleep and was happy enough to stay asleep four about 45 minutes. She woke up and was much more content (me too!)

Then we hung around Val and Jason's house for the rest of the night (I forgot to eat dinner... maybe THAT'S how I'm loosing all this weight, not BFing?!?!). We got home and I cleaned the house.

Brad was still gone, he went with Lisa, Jimmy, Brad, Vanessa and the kids to Mike and Julissa's house, and hadn't gotten home yet.

A little food and TV time, and off to bed.

We tried something new.... letting Kennedy stay asleep from 11pm, and not feeding @ 1am (her typical last feed).... and of course she woke up at 4, instead of 6.... then 7 instead of 9... we are all wacky today. I don't think I like it.

BUT... she did go 5hrs, 5 hrs, then ANOTHER 5 hours.... maybe waking her to feed is over?!?! Maybe she likes to go 5 hrs and eat a lot....?.... she seemed to feed A LOT faster after each of these feeds (like 20 minutes total) vs. the typical 30 or so....hum..... I wonder....

7 weeks!

K turned 7 weeks old yesterday and her weight was 7lbs 14oz!

She is getting sooo big! : )

Ahhh a better day!

Today was much better than yesterday!!! Mommy went swimming and got some sun, and a little more rest!
Kennedy had a better day too! Here are some pictures to prove it!!

She even got a bath... she looks THRILLED about it! LOL!!