Leap Day Doesn't Agree With Babies..

Well.. we spent most of the night on the couch again... rough night. Kyra was overtired I think and then let herself get too hungry between eating.. Poor baby girl. She was in a pretty good mood during the day today though and giggled in the shower. We went over to do some shopping at Wal-Mart and to visit with Phil while he was on lunch and ran in to Amy and Imelda that I work with. I'm really hoping she SLEEPS tonight... I don't even care if it's in her bed or ours... would just like it to be in A bed.
She's so funny in her swing, she doesn't QUITE have it figured out how to track the moving mobile and the butterfly lights while the swing is moving. She does really good when they first catch her attention, but then she gets all excited and mostly just swings her head back and forth opposite of the swinging movement. :D

Baby Dance!

Well, Kyra had a rough night last night and we ended up on the couch around 2. She slept okay after eating, just wanted to do it semi-upright on my chest. She's still liking her swing and napped in it on and off during the day, making what would normally have been a clingy, fussy, don't-want-Mama-to-put-me-down day into a pretty average one so I was actually able to get some stuff done. She wore her little baby leggings for the first time today and I really love them! (She liked them too, much less on and off of clothing than with tights and they're comfy.) She does look like a little baby dancer in her leg warmers and onesie though. Very Cute! After Phil got home we took Kyra and the dogs out to the park and enjoyed the end of the BEAUTIFUL day. It's supposed to start cooling off tomorrow and rain some on saturday so we had to take advantage of it while we could.

Why Didn't We Get a Swing Last Month??

Well today was supposed to be our "errand" day, but Kyra didn't get up from her nap until after 12:30 so we got a late start. She did sleep good last night though, half the night in her bed and half in ours again and only awake once. We did manage to make it to the post office to mail her announcements (finally) and to return stuff at the library. We stopped by Wal-Mart to visit Phil and drop some paperwork off too him and pick up the photo "brag books" I'd ordered that got in today. And then we went to "Other Mothers", the second hand children's store to look for a swing. We FOUND one and Kyra likes it! After it was set up, I was actually able to put her down before she was all the way asleep with no bink and she didn't fuss!! It was WONDERFUL!!!

Tuesday... *lol* That's it.

Well, Kyra slept really well last night!!! She did half the night in her bed, and half the night in ours with just one meal in the middle and it was a short, mellow one. HOORAY!!! I love sleepy babies. :) She was very alert and playful today and not fussy but didn't want to be left alone at all either! She played a lot today, watching her aquarium toy and playing with mom. Not much else to say. :)

Bedtime Troubles...

Well, our goal last night was for Kyra to sleep in her OWN bed all night, (or at least until early morning) no matter how many times it took putting her back. Between 11pm and 2am I was up 14 times settling her down and putting her back to bed, and only one of those was to feed her! Then she FINALLY settled down and slept until 7am. After that I brought her to our bed to feed her and we let her stay there. Phil took her out after he got up and after she'd had breakfast for an hour and a half or so and I was able to get a little extra sleep. On a good note though, she is eating better at night; she's just settling down and nursing well instead of getting fussy and not wanting to latch or cluster feeding. Once she's on a good day/night schedule I think she'll do fine since she's not spending an hour and a half on a meal now. Once I was finally awake we spent the day working on getting stuff addressed and ready to mail and snuggling and playing. We love days when Phil is home! On a side note. I FINALLY finished the video for last week and added it to saturday's post. :)

Praise God for SLEEP!!

Our baby finally slept like a baby for one night!!! Last night after we showered she ate and wanted to play for a while she went back to sleep at 12 and I lay her on the boppy on our bed. She slept for 6 straight hours!!! (I only slept for five before waking up wondering if she was going to eat ever. :) ) I actually woke her at 6 to change and eat before she got fussy and then she went back to sleep for another 3 and a half hours. It was great! Getting ready for church this a.m. was the easiest it's been since she was asleep and then once I was ready I just got her dressed and fed her right before we headed out so she was less cranky in the car after church too since she wasn't so wet and hungry. She was awake during a good share of the service at church today but didn't like the hammer sound effect they played at communion time today.
After church we went out to Grandma & Grandpa B's house for a visit. She was pretty fussy on and off and very clingy almost the whole time we were there and she was awake for most of the time. Pretty much the only nap she took out there was leaning over my hand while she was sitting in my lap at the table and it wasn't a very long one. I think she just got sort of overwhelmed by so much going on while she was mostly awake. Hopefully though, she'll have worn herself out good and will sleep good again tonight though!!

Rough Day... for BOTH of Us..

Another week over already! Well, last night Kyra was awake from 12:30a.m. until 4:30a.m. and then really only wanted to sleep if I was sitting upright holding her so we spent most of the night on the couch again. I did get about an hour nap with her after Phil left for work at 8 but 4 hours just isn't enough! She wanted to be held a LOT all day but wasn't really fussy as long as I was by her. I did manage to get her to take a nap on the boppy pillow, and that's turning out to be a lifesaver! I was pretty frustrated by this afternoon, more with the other stuff that wasn't done than actually with her. I even lost my temper and yelled at the dog at one point which isn't like me and didn't do much for his being obnoxious. By the time Phil got home I was sort of in meltdown mode. She finally took a LONG nap on her boppy in her playpen (I was working in the bedroom where I could keep a good eye on her while she slept) this evening while I finished sorting, folding, and putting away a bunch of clean laundry including all the new 0-3 clothes she got this week from Grace and Heather. So cute!! We showered and got clothes ready for church tomorrow after the laundry was done. (Dad helped pick one of her new dresses. It has blue stripes, yellow flowers and a little yellow duckie. I'll post a pic in tomorrow's entry.)

Laundry!

Well, it was a beautiful day out today but we didn't take advantage of it very much as we spent most of the day doing laundry. :) We did walk over an meet Phil to walk him home from work though. Kyra was NOT happy with me when I couldn't find the "right" Bink though, so we ordered a few more today to have on hand now that we figured out what kind she likes! (It took 5 minutes to convince her to suck on the soothie instead of one of her gumdrops and she screamed bloody murder when I tried to giver her one of the other brand that have a different shape nipple.) I think by the end of the day tomorrow, if she has a good day and I can get stuff done, we'll finally have ALL her clothes in ALL sizes washed, folded, and put in the appropriate place. She napped on the boppy pillow for a long time today and really seemed comfy. I wish she could sleep there at night, as maybe she'd stay in bassinet longer! She did sleep good last night though, just moved in by us after a couple of hours. I guess we have to take what we can get!

Grown Up Time!!

This afternoon, Kyra and I went to visit a friend and her daughter (who's a year and a half old)!! It was lots of fun getting to talk to another grown up and Kyra was even awake for a good share of the visit showing off her pretty eyes (and sticking her tongue out.) They also had some cute clothes to pass on to Kyra that Grace had outgrown and we always love new clothes. :)
After Phil got home from work we went to Costco since there was heavy stuff on my list that I wouldn't have been able to wrangle in and out of the cart with the baby along. We made the mistake of leaving the Ergo at home and just planning on keeping her in her carseat since it fits on the Costco carts. About halfway through shopping she decided she was DONE being in the cart and started objecting quite loudly! So I carried her through the rest of the store.

Wednesday Night

Tonight we went to Wednesday night bible study again and yet again Kyra slept from just before we dropped her off in the nursery until just when we set her down in the carseat to go home!! Then she cried for about half of the trip home. Other than that, not much going on today. Kyra can roll from her tummy to her back now though, but she only does it when she's angry. :)
We did manage to get her birthday cake video turned right side up (although the aspect is a little off and so it's a little wider than it should be) so I'm posting it today. :)

Birthday Girl!!

Hard to believe it, but Kyra is a month old already today! Denali, Kyra & I spent a lot of the day just snuggling as she was not wanting to be put down much. We spent quite a while playing peekaboo and doing tummy time too. She wore her new beanie hat that came with the Vans Grandma B. got her with the little girly pirate skull and crossbones on it today and it's great that she has a little hat that fits, stays on and covers her ears! My newest fascination is watching her belly button change. It's at such a funny stage right now because it's totally flat and almost a little bit of an innie when she's relaxed, and then when she cries or stretches it pops right out like a turkey timer!
This afternoon I loaded her up in the Ergo carrier and we walked over to Wal-Mart to get a couple things and then we walked home with Phil. We had cake this evening to celebrate Kyra's first month of life and sparkling grape juice to celebrate that Mama and Dad have survived it! There are TOO MANY cute pictures from today so I'm putting a couple up at the top and putting the rest in a short video at the bottom. :)

1st Mall Trip

Today we took advantage of Phil's day off and went to the mall with Grandma B. Kyra was very good for most of the time except for a little fuss when we FIRST got there but then she settled right down and slept all the way through shopping and lunch until we were leaving! I didn't find the jeans I needed but we did find some nice warm tights for Kyra to wear in Wisconsin and her Grandma got her some adorable Vans for next fall. It was a BEAUTIFUL day out today. 60 degrees in Portland and sunny, although it's been pretty windy. Not much else to report.

Wake Me When The Party's Over!

Today Kyra was very good in church. She did however make lots of little squeaky noises to entertain Jenny & Angel who were sitting next to us.
This evening we went to a party at Russ & Myrna's house with the other couples who were in our young couples' group and their kids. Kyra was the youngest, but only by a few weeks. There are 3 boys and 7 girls in the group with another little girl due in March so it was a pretty wild house, but they're all very good kids/babies. Kyra was sort of a party pooper and slept through the WHOLE thing! (Well almost, she did peek out at Russ once and then decided to go back to sleep.) Considering that she slept through it, I think her first party was a success. :)

Blah Boring Day...

Didn't do much today because I was still sick. We slept on the couch again last night. Kyra was a little fussy early this morning but then slept good until 10:00a.m. when I actually got up. (I know, lazy me sleeping in but I'm trying to get over the tail end of this cold!) I'm feeling quite a bit better but now I've got a yucky cough like I always get after a cold and there's not anything to do! Can't take any cough suppressant because I'm breast feeding, can't get codeine cough syrup from the dr. because then Kyra would have to sleep in her bassinet all night since I'd be medicated and we wouldn't get any sleep anyway! So I guess I'll just cough.
Kyra was her normal sweet self for most of the day today. She slept a bunch and we went over to meet Phil when he got off work. She did have a mild panic attack on the way out the door when her bink fell down her shirt and was poking her in the tummy. She's figuring out how to relax in the bouncer finally! If she keeps getting good at that, maybe we'll try sleeping there! (Well, just her, not me. :) )
I can't believe she's already 4 weeks old! Just to sum up on the changes. She's spending a good share of her time awake now. She's smiling a lot and laughing at least once a day. (We think the laughing is probably not intentional. Half the time it's when she's smiling, but the other half of the time it's in between screams!) She's been rolling from her tummy to her back SOMETIMES for a while now and she can roll from her back to her side, but not all the way to her belly. She's a lot more focused on things and likes watching the aquarium toy that Grandma B. gave her and LOVES watching the cat (hence all the pictures of her and Denali staring at each other.) They're getting to be VERY good friends now that Denali knows not to step on her and she knows that there's no use in trying to suck on his furry nose.

Mama's Sick.:(

So after our Valentine's Day "date" last night, (we had dinner out) we came home and went to bed at 8:30 p.m. as Phil was exhausted and I still felt like I was getting a cold. Sure enough, by 11:30p.m. when Kyra was up for the first time I was coughing and sneezing so much, I kept scaring Phil awake! Kyra and I moved out to the couch so that he (and hopefully I since I could sit up a little more) could get some rest. Well, Kyra promptly slept for 5 1/2 hours. I think that might be her longest stretch yet! Sadly, I know she slept straight through because I was feeling crummy and was awake for all of it.
This morning I was exhausted so we abandon our grand plans of a trip to the mall to look for a pair of jeans on clearance for me since I'm down to one pair that fits decent and instead we mostly just hung out in bed trying to stay hydrated. I think I'll feel better when I'm not so congested. I'm VERY limited in how much and what kinds of decongestant I can use because it can affect milk supply so I did a half dose of Afrin nasal spray when Phil got home and that seems to have helped some at least. Thankfully, Kyra is NOT showing any signs of getting sick! PTL!!!! No fever, no real fussiness today, no stuffy/runny nose.
The "shirt" she has on today is actually one of my very first baby dresses! It was one I wore when I was a NEW newborn and originally had little rhumba bloomers. Those have been lost over the years of me dressing my dolls in it, and I think that even with bloomers it might be too short for her (comes barely past her belly button!) but it makes a pretty cute baby-doll top, don't you think?

Valentine's Day

Well, Kyra slept pretty good last night until about 6:30a.m. this morning when she didn't want to go back to sleep, just wanted an extended breakfast! So we took a nap this a.m. I'm getting a little bit of a head cold so we're praying Kyra doesn't get it!! I'm hoping all this nursing she's doing is passing on some anti-bodies that will help her fight it off. So far she's been a little on the fussy side today, especially this morning but seems to be okay now and she hasn't had a temp or a runny/stuffy nose. Assuming she's still doing well when Phil gets home in a little bit, I think we're going to try to go to Shari's for dinner and then come home and go to bed early to try to make up for the lost sleep this morning. Doesn't Valentine's day with a 3 week old sound fun?!? :) She's such a sweet little Valentine that it's worth it though. :)

Bink-aholic

Kyra slept pretty good last night! She did a little more than 2 hours in her bed and did well the rest of the night in ours. So we made it to Wednesday night bible study tonight for the first time since Kyra was born. (YAY!) Actually, it was for the 1st time since the Wednesday night T.E.A.M. night study at church started since Phil was working until 8pm before and study starts at 7. Kyra, after being somewhat fussy all day, fell asleep about 1 minute before we dropped her off in the nursery and then slept soundly through the whole study! There was an adorable little girl who was probably not quite 2 in the nursery last night too and she thought Kyra was a doll until she moved! The nursery worker said she sat on the floor with Kyra and the little girl and the little girl sat there "holding" Kyra with her help going "baby, baby, baby" until the nursery worker's back fell asleep. :) So cute! Then Kyra went to Wal-Mart with us and was VERY stubborn. She wouldn't open her eyes so Phil's co-worker who gave her all the clothes could see them but as soon as we got back out to the car and Phil set her in the carseat they popped right open! She can be such a stinker. :) On the way home we got the mail and HOORAY! There were her new Gumdrop brand Binks. She likes them! She sucks on them just as well as the Soothies but can keep them in her mouth a lot better. I like that they're still all one piece so they're very safe too.