Happy Mother's Day!

4 Weeks ago our lives changed in a big way, as Little Camryn joined our family.  It was an amazing experience to watch, and I was in awe of everything that happened during the delivery, which was much faster and more intense the second time around.  But I was just as amazed by Kelly, she was incredible.  She was so strong, and so fearless.  I just don’t know how she did it!  I was pretty nervous throughout the entire delivery, but Kel was so strong and confident, that she eased my nerves.

For the last 4 weeks it has been a major adjustment for our family, but Kel has taken it in stride.  Nothing seems to faze her, not the lack of sleep, two little ones who want her help and attention at all times, or her sometimes-bumbling-husband as he tries to help out with a new infant!  Her strength and patience are amazing and inspiring!

Happy Mother’s Day Babe!  Taylor, Camryn and I love you, and we would be lost without you!

RY

So who does she look like?

When meeting a little newborn, most people ask the question - so who does he/she look like??

With both Camryn and Taylor I was not really sure who either of them looked like. And it seems as though these little ones change so quickly in the first few weeks - as they fill out and get more of that cute baby fat on them - that it is hard to tell anyway.

But this weekend we took the girls down to my parents house for a visit, and after a glimpse at my own baby book, we may be able to say who Camryn looks like - at least at these early stages. :o)

What do you think??
(Scanned picture from my baby book)
Me...

little miss Camryn

She is definitely her own little person...but she might have a little mommy in her, too. :o)

A typical day with a 2 week old and a 2 year old

**Edited to add - just creating this post took me 3 days. :) **

I have really appreciated being able to go back and read posts from when Taylor was a newborn, and I wanted to try to document what some of these first weeks have been like with Camryn, because they are going by quickly, and I know I won't remember what it was really like to have a 2-year-old AND a 2-week-old to take care of!!

This is how one day went this week...

After Camryn wakes up every TWO hours to eat at night (last night it was midnight, 2am, 4am, and 6:30am)...

Sometime between 6-7am, Taylor wakes up saying "all done nap!" - carrying her white blankie and tiger stuffed animal ("Tony") with her out to the living room (or into our bedroom if we aren't up yet - and climbs into our bed until one of us gets up)

Ryan gets up when Taylor does, changes her, and toasts her a waffle for breakfast to tide her over until I get up...and puts on Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Dora, or Little Einsteins for her...this morning it was MMC, and her favorite character is Pete, by the way, and he happens to be the "naughty" character on the show :)

Camryn is usually up to eat between 6:30 and 7:30am and will have awake time after the feeding...but still looking a little sleepy

7:30 - Ryan is gone for work, Taylor is eating the rest of her breakfast, and Camryn is snuggling with me while I check my email, start a load of laundry, etc.

8:00 - Taylor gets in the tub for her bath, while Camryn watches from her bouncy seat as I get Taylor all washed, then Camryn and I sit next to the bath and hang out while Taylor splashes away for a good 1/2 hour

8:45 - Then it is Camryn's turn and she has her sponge bath and is dressed for the day while Taylor watches

(this is how Camryn feels about sponge baths - since this day, her umbilical cord has fallen off and she is MUCH more happy with a real bath now)

9:00 - Camryn eats, then goes down for her morning nap in the pack 'n' play in our room (check out that fluffy hair post-bath :))

9:15 - Taylor and I head downstairs and I ride my bike on the trainer for 30 minutes while Taylor runs around and plays, watches an episode of MMC, and jumps on her trampoline next to me while I ride (we both get some "exercise" time together :)) - oh, and I eat for the first time, chomping down a granola bar while I start to ride

10:00 - quickly jump in the shower, then have play time with Taylor in the backyard, the basement or her room until Camryn gets up around 11:30 - also this is when I usually get to eat my breakfast

11:30 - Camryn wakes up, feed Camryn while getting Taylor her lunch

11:45 - clean up lunch while holding Camryn or carrying her in the Moby wrap

12:00 - start naptime with Taylor - read Taylor 3 stories in her bed, with Camryn listening along, then say night-night to Taylor

12:30 - Taylor pops her head out of her room, "all done, nap??" - nope!! send her back to bed :o)

12:30-2:30 - Play and/or snuggle time with Camryn until she falls asleep (usually around 12:30/1:00), then when she falls asleep - I eat lunch, check e-mail, watch shows from DVR, nap

2:30ish - Taylor comes out of her room "All done, nap!" - and wakes me up on the couch :)

2:30-3:00 - Get Taylor a snack, play, read, sometimes watch a 20 minute Dora episode (if I am really exhausted), until Camryn gets up (usually no later than 3:00)

3:00 - Feed Camryn

3:30 - Get Taylor dressed to go outside, put Camryn in the Moby wrap, make sure to have kleenex, phone, water bottle, get Taylor put in stroller, walk down to the park

3:30-4:45ish - Play outside or at park until Ryan comes home

5:15 - eat dinner and feed Camryn at the same time

5:45-6:45 - play time, then start getting Taylor changed for bed

(this happened to be the night that our new stroller arrived - so stroller assembly was a part of our evening, too!)

Giving sister a hug during her tummy time

Noticing that Camryn is not so happy about tummy time anymore :)

7:30ish - Taylor is in bed - prayers said, books read, door closed (and she hopefully stays down - but sometimes will pop her head out of her room once or twice :))

7:30ish - feed Camryn, entertain her until she falls asleep

8:30-10:30 - watch DVR, eat cereal, and wait until Camryn wakes up to eat again

Feed Camryn at 10:30ish, and start the nighttime routine of sleeping in 2 hour increments until morning!

Oh - and I forgot to mention the many, MANY diaper changes that occur throughout the day. Diaper changing and laundry never seem to end with two kids!

There it is! It will be interesting to see how much things might change, even a month from now. Each day has it's own adventures, but at the same time we are slowly getting used to being a family of four.

The day before...

About 24 hours before our lives were forever changed and Camryn decided she was ready to join our family, we were walking around downtown looking at tulips!

With our warm spring weather, the tulips bloomed early, and we wanted to take a walk downtown to see them (and we were also trying to get a lot of walks in to try to help labor get started :)). I never got around to posting our pictures from that evening!

Taylor loved walking along the street and stopping at all the different flower beds.

Silly girl :o)

Our little runner

We stopped in a store, and Taylor loved looking at herself in the shoe mirror :)

We love her so!!

Two weeks old

Two weeks normally seems like a significant amount of time, but when you are on maternity leave, time seems to move MUCH faster! I am so thankful that Camryn will be older when I have to leave her to go back to work, but even with the extended leave with summer break, it still feels like September will be here before we know it!

Today is actually the first day that I have both girls home with me on my own for the whole day. I am feeling grateful for sunshine in the forecast so we can get outside together! I am also happy that tomorrow is Saturday so we can have Ry home with us for two days - it's always more fun when we are all together. :)

Yesterday we had Camryn's two week appointment, and everything looks great!
Stats...

Weight when she was born - 7lbs 6oz
Weight when we had her appointment last Monday - 7lbs 1oz
Weight yesterday - 8lbs 10 oz!!!!!! (Just above the 50th percentile)
She is a good eater! :)

Height - 20.5 inches (50th-75th percentile)

2 weeks old

Fun we've had this past week...

We've taken Taylor to preschool swim time at the splash zone a couple of times

Blocks

Mowing the lawn for dad :)

Camryn hanging out in the Moby (big fan of "baby wearing" this time around - helps me chase around Taylor AND hold Camryn at the same time :))

So big! 

Reading

Popcorn for snack

Both girls being entertained by the Baby Einstein music toy

Taylor likes to get really close to Camryn. She will also tell us when Camryn is crying, "Listen mama, Camryn crying!" When Camryn is napping in the pack 'n' play, she will say "Where Camryn??" She still likes to "pet" her little sister, and give her a "pound" or fist bump. :) It was also fun to see her reaction yesterday when Camryn and I picked up Taylor at daycare, and Taylor was so excited to see her little sister and show her teacher who Camryn was. :) Only a few moments of jealousy - where she will want me to give Camryn to daddy to hold, or she wants us to put Camryn down in her bouncy seat. For the most part things are going really well still!

Here's to making it through another week!!

6 days as a family of four

This morning I found myself looking back and reading Taylor's five-day-old blog post. I talked about how it seemed like Taylor had been a part of our lives much longer than 5 days...and I feel the same way again about Camryn! She isn't even a week old, and yet it is hard to remember what life was like before she joined our family.

One thing I can say for sure about these past six days - going from 1 to 2 kids is a WHOLE different experience than just having one! It is busy. It is a balancing act. It is tiring. But there are so many wonderful things about having little Camryn, and we love her so much, that it completely trumps everything else.

Ryan has been home all this week. It is going to be strange, and a little sad, to have him go back to work next week! Extra walks with Taylor, running errands, snuggling Camryn while I put Taylor to bed - such a big help. Luckily my mom ("Mem") will be here next week which will be wonderful as well! Each day we get into a little bit more of a routine and things seem a little easier. Now we just gotta get baby girl to sleep better during the night. :o)

6-day-old Camryn update - she's eating great, gained weight at her appointment on Monday (7lbs 1 oz - up from 6lbs 15oz when we left the hospital), her little tongue is taken care of so we don't have to worry about problems down the road, and is such a great little snuggle-bum right now. Nights are a little rough - I am averaging about 3-4 hours of sleep right now total, and usually we end up crashing on the couch together with her fast asleep on my chest, until Taylor wakes up between 6:30/7:00 and comes to say hello. :o)

Taylor update after being a big sister for 6 days - she is adjusting well! She likes to "pet" Camryn, saying how nice and soft she is. :) When I got up this morning, Camryn was still sleeping, snuggled in the middle of our bed, and Taylor made her way into our room, onto our bed, and was sitting right up next to her saying, "awww, baby sleeping"... There have been a few times where she wants to sit on my lap when Camryn is eating, or wants to go do something while Camryn's diaper is being changed or something, and she will get frustrated having to wait, but for the most part, it has not been too much of a transition. I pray for her each day in her role as a big sister, and hope it continues to go well!

Some random pictures from our first week together!

Last few moments at the hospital

Taylor was being entertained by Dora while we were packing up :o)

Going home!

First bath at home

First walk together (LOVING the Ergo!)

All snuggled in the carrier

Stopped by the Aquatic Center to drop off some pictures for my gym buddies to see, and Taylor was captivated by the splash area

Sisterly love - Taylor was having fun covering Camryn with stickers

Waking up from afternoon naps - snuggling with both girls!

Dada with his ladies

Big sister out for a walk with dada - the tulips are up!!

Visiting a future buddy, Addi, at the hospital - born only five days apart!

Sleep!

Camryn at five days old

With big sister (one is happy, one is not :o))

(And here is Taylor's 9 day old picture on the same blanket!)

It's only the beginning!! :o)