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Today we took the long trek back home! Kensie babe was such a great road tripper, once again. She ate. She slept. She pooped. 

I’m basically a pro at pumping in the car now. 

I was starting to worry a little about my supply last week. Since I coach/workout during one of her feedings, I usually pump one side in the morning while she eats off the other so I have a bottle for her in the afternoon. It was always about 3oz or just over, but last week I was barely getting to 2. I’d have to pump a second time later in the day to get enough for her bottle. I was starting to stress about when I’ll be able to start saving milk since we are going on a weekend trip without her in the beginning of March. I also had a few dizzy episodes. One started right after a workout last Tuesday and then I got random ones throughout the day Wednesday as well. I would get really light headed and feel like I was going to pass out. 

I upped my water consumption the last 5 days (staying hydrated is not one of my strengths) and made sure I got enough calories in – and it is definitely showing in my supply. Also I don’t feel like I’m going to faint anymore, so I have that going for me. 

Pumping the last few days as been quick and easy and I have plenty of milk to feed the little chunker. It’s a lot of work and for someone like me who likes to not stop moving until I get EVERYTHING done, and it can get really tough to schedule around feedings, but I am so thankful for the ability to breastfeed.

I mentioned I upped my calories and boy do I wish I could say they were good ones. Haha!  While I do think breast feeding has helped with getting my pre-baby body back, I am starting to see the side effects of enjoying the holiday goodies a little too much. Of course when I mention love handles my sweet friends give me the “shut up, you just had a baby” excuse. While I do appreciate the sympathy – no girl. It’s from the 16lb of sugar I just inhaled. 
I am so ready to get back on track now that vacation is over! I’ve decided to host a free 7-day “New Year Jumpstart” to kick it off. We will officially start this Sunday! If anyone would like to join, I’ll post the guideline and menu here: http://hasslefreenutrition.com 

I’ll set the sign up up tomorrow and we will get rolling! 

They say how you spend the first day of the year is how you’ll spend the rest. Well, if Kensie spends the next 364 being the same awesome baby she was today – I am in!

We had an awesome day visiting Soco Falls!

We headed to a brewery in the afternoon and they didn’t have a changing table, so I made one out of the chairs. Just add that to my application for “Parent of the Year” award. 

Kensie was great today and I am so thankful! She woke up so happy and stayed that way all day. She only got fussy when she was tired and sure enough the foot method worked AGAIN!

One of the girls on the trip with us has a little girl that had really bad gas issues when she was a baby. She showed me a way she used to burp her and Kens LOVED laying there with the pressure on her tummy!

I know I still haven’t posted the other burping video that I said I would. It’s coming. Promise!

HAPPY NEW YEARS EVE!

I couldn’t think of a better way to close out the year than by waking up to this sweet girl and that gorgeous view!

Today we went on a hike to see a waterfall! It was gorgeous and K loved being in her ergo baby carrier. She had big eyes for a while then she was so cozy she passed right out. 

This morning K had a meltdown/scream fest and it made momma cry too. Daddy had to take over. The day started off promising then went from 0 to 100 in a second. Oye. Once he settled her down she went right to sleep and the rest of the day she was SO good! 

She started crying this afternoon as she fought off a nap, but I laid her down and did the foot thing to her again (That I mentioned in yesterday’s post) and it worked!!! She stopped crying, laid there and looked around and chatted for a while, then passed out! 3/3 times it’s been a success!

This evening K got dressed up for NYE dinner in her fancy dress from Gramma!!! She loved sitting in it and chatting and participated in our photos for the most part. 😉

Hopefully K will be sleeping by midnight, but we gave her her kiss early! 

Ohhh this girl. Such a ham!!

So thankful for all of the amazing memories 2016 has made and looking forward to many more great times with our family and friends in 2017! 

Today we woke up to the most gorgeous sunrise over the mountains and then Kensie got to explore Bryson City, NC with us! 

Today was just the four of us as we waited for everyone else to come in town. We went into Bryson City for lunch, visited their winery and some of the shops!

We headed Back to the house just before sunset so we didn’t have to drive up the mountain in the dark. 

K didn’t have a meltdown tonight but she got really fussy a few times as she fought off naps. She is still going through her clingy “mommy needs to hold me every second” phase and it is exhausting. At one point I just had to walk out and close the door. Luckily daddy took over and got her to relax. 

A friend had shared this with us earlier in the day (picture below). When she was crying, I laid her on the bed and tried pressing her foot pressure points to see if it would work. IT DID!

I held my thumb right between the 4&5 and she stopped crying and just laid there. Not sure if it will work every time but it was a nice break for the time being!



Today we left for our New Years trip to the Smokey Mountains in NC. When we got up this morning KB was so excited!

She has been the best little nugget today. We haven’t had a single car meltdown!! We stopped for lunch and gave her a bottle, stopped for gas and fed her, then made a pit stop at our friends Brian and Ashley’s house in South Carolina for dinner. 

​Kensie started to get fussy as she fought off sleep and Brian thought that was her meltdown. We informed him that was nothing and he said he wanted to try to calm her down. Pretty sure he made it worse. 😂

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​As soon as I took her back she stopped (sorry Bri, hahaha) and Aunt Shell and I got her right to sleep! 

After we ate she woke up from her power nap and chatted with us for a bit before we got back on the road. 

It was so great to see them and way too quick of a visit. 

On the way back to the highway we passed a Krispy Kreme with the “HOT NOW” sign on. Chris has been telling Michelle about these donuts for WEEKS and it was on our list of things to do before she heads to Afghanistan. 

And while I have your attention, can we please discuss why the hell this thing exists?!

Jack ate Ks nose sucker last week and she wakes up with a stuffy nose pretty often. I went to target to buy a new one and this was all I could find. I mean sucking the snot out of her nose with my mouth sounds like a solid option, but I think I’ll pass.

Thank you Amazon Prime for offering a battery powered version…

After my post a few days ago about Kensie’s meltdowns and not wanting to put her on medication, I had a few moms and friends reach out about pediatric chiropractic. 

A friend of mine from high school specializes in it but unfortunately she lives in Jacksonville. She recommended going to Revival Chiropractic that her best friend recently opened here in Orlando. 

Dr. Christina Cuellar was amazing and came in on her day off to adjust miss Kensington! 

As soon as we got there, Kensie had a meltdown…she waited for me to feed her and settle down, explained everything to me, and got K adjusted. SHE LOVED IT. 

Kens started to fuss and as soon as Dr. Christina worked her way down her back, she immediately relaxed. When she got to her pelvic area K was letting out gas. Like anything, it is not a one time magic fix; but, I can already tell a huge difference in her. 

We went over to Casey’s after to give her her Christmas presents. I walked out of the bathroom to Casey holding K and cracking up…

I guess that adjustment aligned her colon right up!! HAHA!

Kensie screamed AGAIN shortly after we got there and Casey tried to show me a “calming hold” that worked for Harper when she was colicky. 

It got her quiet for a second, then she resumed her screaming. At least it entertained us for a few minutes. 

We went to the gym this afternoon and guess what K did for the first time?

I laid it on her belly because she didn’t want it when I tried and I turned around and she scooted it all the way up and got it into her mouth! Now if only she could do that every time. 

Kensie had a bottle at the gym and was SO good while I coached 3 classes! She even slept on the ride home (which never happens – she’s usually crying and wants to eat).

Since we’ve been home tonight – it’s been a DREAM all because of a burping technique Dr. Christina showed me today!!

A while back I posted I was giving K a pumped bottle at night because she seemed to eat better and would fuss if I breastfed her. Tonight we found a solution!

Kensie will eat off one side then start fussing and I’ll burp her. Sometimes she burps, sometimes she doesn’t. Well when she doesn’t she won’t eat much when I try to finish feeding her. She fusses and won’t latch so I assume she’s done even though I don’t think she’s had enough. 

Tonight she started to do that and I remembered what the doctor showed me, did it, Kensie belched twice and finished eating for 5 more minutes!!!! She dozed right off afterward and has been sleeping ever since. Go figure – getting out a little gas bubble just made my night so much more relaxing!!!

I’ll try to get a video tomorrow to share the method for anyone else it may help! 

Chiropractor, Altamonte Springs, FL

Kensie Brooke was such a sleepy girl today. She slept until just after 8 this morning (thank you Jesus) and woke up so happy!

My mom came over today to spend time with K and watch her while I got errands done and packed up for our New Years trip! My little brother even took the ornaments off the Christmas tree for me and my mom took the lights down! They’re the absolute BEST. 

We mailed Aunt Shell’s cases to Afghanistan, went grocery shopping and managed to get our workout in. 

So, of course K was good all day and took lots of naps. She did poop on 2 outfits though. Haha!!

Once we got back home and my mom left – sure enough Kens had a meltdown. She ate dinner and had her bath and was so happy. I thought for sure at that point we’d have 2 days in a row of no screaming. Nope. 

This was a lonnnggg one. I felt so bad because I could hear the bubbles in her tummy. 

I found the one place in the house she was happy with me standing so I waited it out a while before I took my chances on relocating. The one time I walked into the kitchen with her to attempt to eat my dinner, she immediately changed that plan with her screeching. 

Once I stood there for a while I thought for sure she was over it. I put her in the mamaroo and she tolerated that for a while as long as I was right there and kept her pacifier in her mouth. 

Just as I was finishing eating she started back up. This time daddy gave it a go. 

He did get her to be quiet, but I’m not too sure who really won this battle…

That was the last of her meltdown, though! She stayed wide awake until just after 10. Aunt Shell finally got her to fall asleep and we got everything packed up and in the car ready to go for the morning. The amount of crap needed for such a small human is mind boggling…

We hit the road in 6.5 hours and I’m just now heading to bed; you know, just in time for Kensie to wake up soon to eat. 

…never a dull moment when you live with KB! 

This little Booger was SO happy today. What a relief! I won’t take it for granted or expect a repeat tomorrow but I sure am thankful for it today. 

I decided not to take her off the Mylicon just yet like the doctor suggested. I will wean her more once we increase her chiro visits but for now, it helps her gas pain so much. This poor girl was miserable without it and her tummy noises made me feel awful. I have brought it down to about every other feeding and she doesn’t take it at all at night when she wakes up to eat. It seems to be working well that way. 

While she didn’t have any meltdowns today, there were 2 close calls where I heard her belly bubbling and she started crying. It was such a sad cry and I could tell she was in pain. I wiggled her legs some work and and put her in the burping position the chiro taught me (dang it I still didn’t video it…it’s coming I promise…) and we avoided meltdowns both times! 

The first one took a little vacuum noise and ceiling fan distraction but she relaxed enough to pass her gas and immediately fell asleep. 

Even though she was great today, I reheated my coffee 3 separate times – and as I type this at 10:30p I have yet to finish it.

We did get a craft done, though! Kensie chilled in her chair and chatted and chatted and chatted while we made her footprint ornament. 

When we got home from the gym Carolyn and Emily came home for dinner. While I was in the shower K started crying (because she was tired and as you all know she has a serious case of that FOMO) so Carolyn picked her up, played the vacuum app and rocked her to sleep under the fan! 

Well today was much better than yesterday as far as the screaming is concerned. Kensie woke up super happy and took a nap this morning while I did the “12 Days of Christmas” WOD. Most definitely thought I was going to throw up from that workout. I’d like to blame it on “getting back into it” but I’m pretty sure it was just that rough. Haha! 

It wore me AND Kens out and we took a nice long nap after the gym!

After we got up, we ran some errands and got our nails done with Aunt Shell and Aunt Casey!

Once we got home, I gave her the Zantac about 15 minutes before I was going to feed her. She got super fussy this evening and would only stop crying if I was holding her. She didn’t want to be held by anyone else…which made wrapping presents and getting anything done extremely difficult. Luckily Chris and Michelle were amazing and made dinner for us!

Even though I had a lot of things I needed to get done before our Christmas festivities this weekend (Hence why I am still up and posting this at 1a…) I soaked in the extra snuggle time with my little munchkin. I know it will be all too soon that she wants to be miss independent. 

On a positive note, she only had Mylicon ONE time today! Woohoo! She went all day without it but when she started having her fits tonight I tried to give her some because her discomfort seemed gas related. Hoping to be completely off of it in the few days. Progress!

If I’m not mistaken, this was the first Christmas I didn’t wake up in my parents’ house. I missed them today, but it was such a special morning celebrating Kensie’s first Christmas as a family of 3. I know she has no idea what Christmas or Santa or anything is right now, but we pretended she did for our own entertainment. 

K was perfect this morning and hung out in her mamaroo staring and chatting away while mommy and daddy opened their presents! Then she hung out with daddy and watched him play his new Nintendo! She loved watching the screens change. 

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This afternoon, Chris’ side of the family came over for lunch and gifts. As soon as his brother got here, K had a meltdown out of nowhere. 😦 

Luckily, Uncle Matt and Aunt Val were able to get her to calm down and take a nap! She’s been on Zantac for 4 days now and I’m not sure if it takes some time to start working or if it just isn’t going to be a solution for her…

She cried pretty hard again a few hours later but as soon ass I held her and sat on the bed she started dosing off. I think this little nugget is just overwhelmed and overtired from her busy weekend. In between the crying she did give some smiles and she chatted in her chair while we were eating! We even caught a family photo with no tears. 

After everyone left, K was passed out in her crib before 7pm! She just woke up to eat as I am typing this…

We hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas!