One Month

{this sock monkey was your first stuffed animal. it came from Aunt Mary and Uncle Ken, your great aunt and uncle}

It’s hard to believe it’s already been one month. As most people say, ”it seems like yesterday” that you were born. Time really has gone quickly since your arrival.

Dad took off for a week when you were born. Being that I was sick on top of just having a baby, he had his work cut out for him as far as nursing us back to healthy. But... You can rest assured that he did just that. In case I haven't told you, you have Super Dad for a Dad. He was on top of medicine, refilling my cup to keep me hydrated, making sure Kinley and I got to eat, diaper changes, plenty of snuggling for you and Kinley, taking Kinley to school, hanging with us during nighttime feeds, entertaining Kinley so you and I had time to snuggle and rest together and so much more! You Dad does an excellent job taking care of his family. Even after he went back it work, he would wake up with you so I could get rest and recover. He loves snuggling you up in his arms in the corner of the sofa mobile and would sleep there forever with you if he needed to.

We attempted pictures on day 7. You were fine after peeing and pooping on us when we tried to put you in the dump truck. We didn't get a dump truck shot but you cooperated other times. It was your sister that didn't cooperate so family pictures will come later. 

our little Brother Bear!

We jumped back into the saddle a lot sooner with you... Your first trip to church was when you were 10 days old! 

At one week old, you weighed 7 pounds 11 ounces. At 3 weeks, you weighed 8 pounds 5.5 ounces so we were continuing to fatten you up one day at a time. You have 4 ounces every 3-4 hours. After about three weeks, we went to giving you breast milk from a bottle. This allows Dad to help feed and we know how much you are eating. You are still getting plenty of Mom snuggles though!

I don't think we truly know how tall you are because of the terrible measuring system at the doctor's office. I'd say you are getting taller though.

You are wearing size one diapers and newborn clothes, which are hard to come by for little boys! Well any clothes really. I tell you what, I never paid attention to how one sided stores are but there is not a whole lot to offer for sweet little boys.

During your first month, we spent time adjusting as a family. Many of our friends and family helped make the adjustment easier by bringing us dinners. You, of course, made the adjustment pretty easy, like you had always been here. 

34 weeks and beyond!

{As I finish this, our little Brother Bear is almost 7 weeks old. I feel sad that I was not able to keep up with posting and all the details of this pregnancy. But... I will say that there was a lot of other things that went on and had to be taken care which kept me busy and unable to sit down to blog my adventure. Now that he is here, I feel like I need to get this posted before I can post about him. He is such a sweet little guy that needs some blog lovin'!!}

34 weeks

This week was big for Brother Bear! He got curtains that I think we will like, his car seat will be getting cleaned up for him and we will pick up his crib and dresser this weekend! We also got registered at the hospital so we are good to go whenever the time comes. Guess that means it is time to start thinking about packing some sort of bag?

We are determined to decide on a name, as many people are frustrated that he doesn't have one yet. I don't know why but it seems harder to decide this time. I suppose part of it is because Kinley's name is so cute that we want to make sure his is equally cool (you know since boys probably wouldn't be concerned with having a cute name).

He is still like a little bouncy ball tucked inside my belly, sometimes more so than his sister. At school, he was fed really well as my co-workers took the week to celebrate me as the Teacher of the Year.

 We also got the crib and dresser put into Brother's room! Whew, they came in before he got home!

35 weeks

36 weeks

 During 36 weeks, we finally got Brother Bear's room put together. We made his name sign but only told family and a few close friends what his name was going to be. The rest of the world found out when he was born.

37 weeks

On February 22, Brother had a shower hosted by some of my college friends. It was an adorable transportation theme to go along with his bedroom! I loved the blues and orange of it too! A bonus was that there were Sixlets for days to eat afterwards! (I actually just finished mine off this week, 2 months after the shower! I think I had good restraint on eating them )

Jade, Susan, Casey and Sharon

Nandy, Aunt Mary and Anna

Courtney, Erin, Tiffany, Grace, BA and Kay
--not pictured... Jennifer, Jillian and Nancy, and photographer, Heather--

Kinley and I with Nandy, Aunt Mary, Anna and Sharon

Cute little outfits, books, cars and more!

38 weeks

38 weeks with the sisters

During this week, I visited the doctor on a Friday, February 28. However, when the day came around, I felt like poo. I had started sniffling and had a little cough to go with it. My PE teacher was adamant about me not doing our assistant's duty, as I had done in the past so that she could have her lunch and I could make my appointment. Little did I know, my teacher friends had planned a surprise diaper shower! At least a week or two before, I had mentioned in the teacher's lounge that I had this appointment and no one said anything about it.Well, surprise to you too! I can't stay long because I have an appointment.

Dr. W. said Brother was still baking, head down so we would wait and see what the week would bring. I told him I had started coughing and had the sniffles but didn't feel sick, maybe it was just allergies starting up. He recommended some Claritin and cough syrup so I stopped on the way back to school and loaded up!

As the days progressed, I kept coughing and coughing and coughing. Each time I needed to cough, I had to prepare myself because I did not want to cough the baby right out of me... or pee my pants. One of the two may or may not have happened on more than one occasion.

People would ask me when my last day was before maternity leave kicked in and my response was, "I'll be here until Mr. Bobby (our custodian) is following me around with a mop bucket telling me to go home." And I pretty much did that.... 

I went to work on Wednesday, March 5th. The cold or whatever I had left me feeling like poo but I had to go. I spent my plan time resting on the couch in the teacher's lounge. At one point, my assistant came in with a blanket and said, "Mr. S. (the principal) asked me to cover you up. He thought it might be awkward if he came in and did it himself." When it was time to get my kids I felt a little more refreshed. We finished off the day and at the end of the day, I told my kids to have a good night and I would see them tomorrow. As I was leaving with my friends and feeling like dooky, I said, "You know, at this point I really should leave everyday as if I am not coming in tomorrow." and then I shut off the lights and closed the door..........

{I know, I know, I did horrible at recording the preparation for Brother Bear but it truly is harder to do with another little person running around. I am doing my best to keep up with his baby book since I know how bare mine is. And to make me feel better, I haven't totally kept up with Kinley's}

Sweet Family

Here is my sweet little family's fall picture and Christmas card picture.  
(of course posted way late...)

Merry Christmas from the Snows!

this silly little smirk :)

*photos were taken by a sweet mama from my school

Christina from Skip a Beat Photography was very patient with us as we took Kinley's one year pictures too

One balloon for one year old

On the Day You Were Born...

Sister Love

I love how she is cracking herself up

Kinley in Motion

There is a radio that is always on in the garage. When you open a door, doesn't matter if it is the house door to go out or the car door to unload from the car, she hears the music and just grins. Sometimes she will bob her head or even shake a hand in the air to let you know she hears some jams. She loves her music class at school too.

While we didn't really watch (IE- we didn't watch the game at all) the Super Bowl, we did tune in for some Bruno Mars at halftime. Here is a little video of her jamming. It's hard to tell but when Preston was holding her she would start shaking to the music. As you can probably guess from the video, she got her moves from her Dad. Ha!

A co-worker's son goes to 'school' with Kinley. As mentioned before, Kinley loves babies. The next video was taken when Cameron was being picked up. She has started "falling down" and picking herself back up to do it all over again.

I hope she loves to talk to her baby brother as much as she likes talking to the babies at school!

One thing I miss...

.... the silly comments from my Pa. Blogging almost isn't the same knowing there won't be some wise ass comment from him posted at any time. There are times that I try to think of what kind of silliness would come out of his mouth or just his praise and excitement for all things Kinley and Brother Bear.

While it's been a month, it seems like longer. I don't want to be a person that commemorates the day, month or year, I just can't help but think how different things were only a few weeks ago or the various things I have now experienced and learned at 31 years old.

Pa loved to explore the facebook, even though he also hated it. I found this little guide I made him several, several months (maybe even a year) ago. After he got this in his email, there was no stopping his commenting. You are welcome facebook world.

Even though there won't be any more installments of "Crazy stuff my Pa says" I will probably still label things as such, like this post, just to keep it all under one umbrella.

Brother Bear

Here you are at 20 weeks!

My Sweet Little Brother Bear,

I was a second child so I know how it feels to feel like things weren't the same as with the first child. Trust me, I've seen my baby book. While I may not have documented things the same way I did for your sister, do I dare say I have been more excited about you coming along? I think so. I was pressuring your Daddy to look for your bedding, give you a name, even find out if you were a boy or girl sooner than I did with your sister. I feel like I talk to you more and you definitely talk to me more! I am excited to see your sweet little face when you are ready to come into this big old world.

I pray every night about how thankful I am that you are part of our family. That you will grow up to be as sweet and caring as your Dad. He has a lot to teach you to be a gentleman. That you have a caring personality and a love for your family.

I feel like you took over my body sooner than your sister but maybe that is because my body knew what to expect this time. People always say that the second one fits right in quicker so I guess you did what you were supposed to. As of now, I am not so sure you will have any hair. If the heartburn tales are true, we are looking at a sweet little baldy. You have not caused me to have crazy, random, Charlie horse episodes. I think I can count on one hand the number of them that I have had. I'm sure since I talked about it, it will probably all change. (yes, since starting this post the Charlie horses have increased)

Alas, here I sit, 33 weeks pregnant and just now posting pictures of you growing inside of me. I will apologize in advance for the lack of pictures. Your Dad and I were naughty about making sure to take one. BUT, rest assured little guy, you are already so loved. We all still have to excuse the scary-ness of evening pictures too!

Since we were building a new home, as the pictures progress, you will notice your room coming together a little more each week. I will put some of the lack of picture taking on the building a house. :)

17 weeks

18 weeks

19 weeks

20 weeks

22 weeks

23 weeks

24 weeks

25 weeks

26 weeks

27 weeks

29 weeks

At 30 weeks, we ordered your crib and dresser. We also bought your bedding! In between 30 and 31 weeks is when I told my class that I was having a baby. Silly little kids didn't notice that I was growing at a rapid pace! One student said he thought I had just eaten a lot.The next day, they asked if I still had a baby in there.

31 weeks

32 weeks

33 weeks

And there you have it. Kind of like the house... you see pictures late and we are almost ready for the finished product! It is hard to believe that in seven short weeks Brother Bear will be here!

18 months

How is that a year and a half has gone by since you came into this world?!

You went for your well child check up on Monday, January 20th. You weighed 24.4 pounds, which put you in the 49th percentile, and they measured you at 30.5 inches tall but we measured again as we left and saw that you are closer to 31.25 inches tall. As soon as go behind the door, you seem to remember that is where the shots come from so you break down and they settle for a measurement. Their 30.5 inch measurement puts you in the 18th percentile. You are wearing size 4 diapers, size 4 shoes and a variety of 12 and 18 month clothing.

You are such a busy little girl. You go to 'school' five days a week while Mom and Dad work. Sometimes you are sad in the morning when I leave you and others you just run off to see your little baby friends. You love talking to the babies at school. When I get there to pick you up in the afternoon, you acknowledge me but just keep on playing. Some days I have to drag you out of there mad but are fine once we get out the door. On January 16th, I got a text from Jade saying that you counted to 10! She said you wouldn't do it on command but when they were having group time and counting, they heard a little voice one ahead of their count and watched to see that it was you! I guess reading your 10 Little Monkeys Poke A Dot book has paid off. You are an expert at the little slide inside and have even mastered one of the bigger slides outside.

Handprint Rudolph

Finger print snowmen

Some of the words in your vocabulary include: baby, sis, trash, sock, shoe, no, yes, animoo (animal, which his your wubba nubs), mama, and dada. You like to ask, "where's Dada at?" when you are with Mom and "where's Mama at?" when you are with dad. Another phrase you have mastered is "There's a baby!" or "It'sa baby!"You say this whenever you see babies or when you see your belly or mine. When you say it, it sounds like you have a French accent.

This is Kinley's friend Cameron. I also work with his mom.

You are good about nap and bedtime. Most nights, you talk for a few minutes and then are off to dreamland for the night. Weekend naps are the same way and you nap well at school too. Our typical routine is up at 7 and bed at 8:15-8:30. We can definitely tell when it is getting close to bedtime without even looking at clock. The mornings that you wake yourself up, you will chat with your animals and give us a big grin when we open the door.

You adjusted nicely to our new home. It was almost like you never moved. You like to climb the stairs and have been busted a time or two venturing off on your own. The game room has nothing in it but a chair and some of your toys. You love to run from wall to wall up there. You are a music lover and stop to dance when you hear it. One of your favorites songs is the Alligator Song by Dr. Jean. You picked it up at school and get so excited when you hear it starting. Here is a little alligator chomping at dinner.

Alligator Part 1

Alligator Part 2- CHOMP!

In November, you got your first Power Wheels that your Grandpa O and Pa bought you at a garage sale. You love sitting in and are getting better at putting your foot down to make it go. For Christmas, you got a wagon from Grandma and Grandpa Snow. You love to go for rides it too. You sit in it like you are on a carriage ride. Being that those two things are outside, you love being there no matter what the temperature. Summer better brace itself for Kinley!

Check out my sweet ride!

Kinny Binny,

You never cease to amaze me. Just watching you brings a sparkle to anyone's eyes, no wonder your Pa loved you so much. There are days that you flash that stubborn attitude (that I know you got from me... but I will never admit that to your Dad) and other days that you just love to run by for a hug. I am so very, truly blessed to be your Mommy and love watching you grow into your own little person but you can slow down a bit.