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How quickly a year went by. Last Christmas when Chris and I were exchanging gifts I remember saying “this could be our last Christmas just us two!” It’s so much fun having Miss Kensie here to make memories with us this year. 

We had a busy day driving up to Jacksonville to see family. Unfortunately K didn’t really nap on the way up so she was pretty cranky today, but she still had fun and got lots of snuggles in! 

Here’s a little peek at the beginning of Kensie’s First Christmas!

They chatted and chatted and chatted! It was the longest conversation K has had yet!

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Kensie took her screaming to a whole new level today…she had about 4 breakdown episodes today so that was just fantastic. Thank God for vacuums. 

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Thankfully, she was a perfect baby while I coached the 9a class and the 4p class. She slept right through them. 

 

Of course she went in her PJs because we can’t get our lives together that early anymore… 

When we got back home, she pitched her second fit of the day. It was mid-eating and it seemed like she was in pain. Not sure if it was gas or reflux, but I went ahead and called the doctor. They sent her a prescription for Zantac. 

I’ve mentioned before I hate to put her on medications, but the discomfort and screaming is way worse. A few friends reached out and suggested a chiropractor as well! Apparently adjustments can help with colic or reflux. 

I changed her Mylicon to every other feeding today so I’m not sure if that’s what led to the multiple episodes. We will try the Zantac and weaning from Mylicon a few more days and see how it goes for her. Hopefully we can get in to the Chiro soon, too! I’m willing to try almost anything if it avoids another day like today. 

Anyways, in the few times she was happy today, Kensie was a little chatter box!!! I finally got it on video! (Usually she stops right when I try to record it). 

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She screamed a ton when I got home from the gym this evening but after her bath, medicine and dinner she was actually really happy! She stayed wide awake until about 11 but she was just hanging out on the couch, looking around and occasionally talking to us! When we went to bed she put herself to sleep in her crib again, so at least we have that going for us! 

Well, today was the second day we tried the rice cereal. No such luck as far as it stopping her screaming. Unfortunately it doesn’t seem to do anything different for her. She was a great shopping buddy today and slept for 5 hours during her morning nap while I got a ton of errands and last minute Christmas shopping done! 

When she was awake she was still pretty fussy and could only sit in certain positions after she ate that didn’t cause her pain. She had a full blown meltdown again tonight while trying to eat so we are going to call the doctor tomorrow and give her the update. We were supposed to try this for a week before moving to medicine, but I can’t let this poor girl keep screaming in pain for 5 more days. 

I have noticed her screaming also happens when she’s overtired and fighting sleep, but there’s an obvious discomfort going on when she eats sometimes. She will be hungry but laying on her back hurts so she tries to eat and just starts crying. 😦

I am starting to wean the Mylicon and it seems to be going okay so far…Here’s to hoping the Zantac works! 

What a day! Kensie had her 2 month check-up today. She’s 11lb 8oz and 22 1/4 inches which is a quarter inch less than last month…I asked the nurse if she shrunk (I was kidding) and she remeasured and got the same length. The doctor thinks they did it wrong last time because her height and weight correlated better this time. Whatever, she’s healthy! 

The doctor told me because of the vaccinations Kensie would be more fussy and clingy than usual today. To me that sounds like a typical day in her life, but boy was she right. This girl has been in mommy overload mode today. 

At her appointment I told the doctor I have been giving her Mylicon every time she eats and while it really seems to have helped with the gas, K still has random meltdowns. She said it sounds like a level of reflux, but she wanted me to try rice cereal in her bottle instead of immediately putting her on Zantac. She also wants me to wean her off of the Mylicon. 

I was a little torn with the thought of giving her the rice cereal at only 2 months. Since I have to pump to give her a bottle while I’m at the gym in the afternoons, the doctor said adding the cereal, along with keeping her upright for 20 minutes after she eats, will help make the milk heavier and sit at the bottom of her stomach as opposed to coming back up and burning her. 

I called my friend Casey because I knew Harper had an issue with reflux and she had taken Rice Cereal as well. I’m not sure exactly why I was so indifferent about it- but I wanted to see her experience and if she thought it helped or caused any issues. She told me that it’s been very helpful for Harper and reminded me that while I didn’t really want to, it would allow me to take the Mylicon away which I didn’t like giving her since it’s made with so much sugar. Also, if it’s something that can relive pain for K, it’s worth giving a shot! 

I put it in her bottle this afternoon and she did great with it. Usually by the time I’m working out or trying to leave the gym Kens is already crying to be fed again. Today she was a happy camper until I fed her again at 7:30! Win! I feel like I can’t really count today since she’s sleepy and cranky from the shots, but hopefully it will help this little boo! 

They tested her poop and confirmed she doesn’t have a dairy allergy (hallelujah)! She IS intolerant to large amounts of it, though. Basically I can’t have straight milk or things like ice cream or queso. I can still have cheese in small amounts and yogurt. I’m not a huge dairy eater anyways, so I’m glad it’s an easy fix. 

Regardless of her clinginess, I got lucky and found a brief window of happiness and managed to get lots of smiles while I took her 2 month photo! Phew!!!

I really can’t believe this sweet girl is two months old already! It is so much fun watching her change and grow and seeing her little personality start to come out. 

At the party Saturday night there was a point where she was way over tired and people kept wanting to hold her. When they did she started crying – when I took her back she’d stop! Realizing that she knew who I was was such a great feeling. 

K is still doing awesome with holding her head up and doing mini push ups! She tracks with her eyes and watches me like a hawk when I walk away from her. She is responding with smiles and has started trying to “talk”. Kensie loves bath time and just laying in the warm water. She has been sleeping in her crib until about 5-6a each night and she’s also been standing straight up on my legs while I burp her! She still isn’t a fan of tummy time; it just turns into laying down, fussing or chewing her hand. We’ll get there, Haha! I’m excited she’s starting to hold on to and grab things so I can give her toys to play with. And last but not least, I am so excited for her first Christmas this weekend! 

Yesterday K went to Daddy Daycare!! Which meant she never got out of her pajamas for the day…

Chris and Will too care of Kens while the girls went to see the Nutcracker!

Today I had to deal with the mess that was dropping our truck off at the dealership. I’ll spare you all the details – but why do they have to make it such a daunting task!? 

Anyways – Kens was pretty happy most of  today but she didn’t take a single nap. So naturally, she lost her shit a few times instead of just going to sleep…because she likes to keep it interesting. 
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If anyone is still looking for a Christmas present for me, I desperately need this book. 

This morning I got my hair done and our conversation was the inspiration for my blog today. Ashley, my hair extraordinar, was always very real with me about what to expect once I had a baby (and still what to expect) and I really appreciate that about her. 

Other than trying to watch my language, I try not to sugarcoat the details on my blog. Being a mom is amazing and rewarding and I wouldn’t trade it for anything; but it’s also hard and scary and down right exhausting. I don’t mean exhausting as in just not sleeping in. I mean exhausting as in even if you get a 2 hour “physical” break to run to the store- you’re still a mom. The worry never shuts off. And if your breastfeeding even if your baby is being watched for 12 hours you’re still not off the clock. I think a lot of times moms are scared to tell the truth because no one talks about the not so fun parts so they think they’re the only ones that go through it. As a new mom, this blog has been an awesome resource.  When I’ve talked about Kensie’s issues with gas or screaming or trying to figure out pumping – other moms have reached out with suggestions for me and I always end up learning something from them that works! 

As if today’s post isn’t long enough – here’s some things I’ve learned since becoming a mom:

– Hot coffee is completely taken for granted.

– Finishing a meal in one sitting (let’s be real- standing) is a noteworthy accomplishment. 

– Even if your baby is a good sleeper you won’t sleep soundly because you always have one ear in “listen for the baby” mode. 

– You can go to the bathroom in 15 seconds flat. Always. Including number 2. 

– It’s truly amazing the things you can do with one hand.

– Hearing your child make noise when you just celebrated the fact that they fell asleep is similar to the feeling you got when your first goldfish died. Straight devastating. 

– Babies automatically know when you need to get shit done and start crying right on cue.  

– Forgetting to eat is actually a thing.

– Never wake a sleeping baby. Seriously. 

– Never wake a sleeping mom. Still serious. 

– “Shit ruins lives.” -Ashley Ball

– Alcohol.

 
Oh. And while we are on the topic of being real, this was Kensie “cooperating” for her blog photo today. 

After Kensie’s sleepless night, we drug ourselves to the gym early to workout and to coach the morning classes. I barely had myself together so K went in her PJs. 

Once we left the gym Kensie was having some tummy issues so if I put her in the wrong position she would start crying. I changed up her medicine and started giving her the Mylicon half way through her eating when I’d stop to burp her. That seems to help her go potty before she’s even done eating so I’m going to keep doing that for a few days to see how it goes!

Tonight Kensie got dressed up for her first Ugly Sweater Christmas Party! So thankful for such great friends that love K and let her hang out with the “big kids”. 

She was such a good girl! She was super tired at the beginning of the party and passed out. As soon as I got the idea to go lay her down for the night she woke up and refused to close her eyes with so much going on! K hung out for a little while and then daddy got her to go to bed. 

We had a great night with friends and luckily Kensie slept through the night for us! 

Welp, Kensie made up for her perfect day with some extra fussiness today. We had a lot to do though so overall she was a great sport!

We had to go shopping to get ready for a Christmas party and then we went up to Daytona for her cousins 6th birthday party.

After we got back from Daytona we went over to Will and Ashley’s house to decorate cookies for the Ugly Sweater party!

We got home pretty late and I was sure Kensie would sleep really well since she was up most of the day and had more than one meltdown. Nope. 

If she is wide awake she won’t stay in her crib too long before she gets fussy so I put her in bed with me assuming she’d pass out pretty quickly. Homegirl had other plans. She was wiggling and chatting and had no interest in sleeping. After about 45 minutes of that attempt I put her mamaroo bedside the bed and held her pacifier in her mouth. That lasted until about 2a when she finally went to sleep. I was the only on dozing off in the meantime..but at least she was happy! 

The title of today’s blog has nothing to do with lifting. Though, I did a lot of that today and it was the farthest thing from a PR…

I have definitely lost a ton of strength in my time off; luckily I still have a somewhat decent motor. I’ll try to video a workout soon to start sharing my PP CrossFit journey! Doing it through pregnancy is definitely what I credit my quick recovery with so I’m interested to see how long it takes to get back to where I was. 

Anyways – enough about me. K was the perfect baby today!!! The PR is that she didn’t cry one single time. (There were small fusses here and there when she farted or wanted to eat, but no crying!) it only took 56 days of life to reach this point. I actually feel like I might be dreaming and today hasn’t happened yet. 

I coach a morning class on Thursdays and Kens and I can’t get our lives together that early in the morning so she rocked her PJs to the gym. She didn’t seem to mind. 

Then she had the best surprise and Aunt Shell is back in town!!! Kensie got in some afternoon snuggles and a nap before I had to go back and coach for the afternoon. 

When I finished working out, we planned to go grab food with some friends. I had to run home and bathe and feed Kensie and I assumed at some point I’d deal with a crying session, though I was hoping to at least avoid a full meltdown. 

She didn’t shed a single tear!!!!! She ate dinner, took her bath, smiled when I put on her pajamas and she fell asleep in her car seat as soon as we got to dinner. 

I relocated her to her crib when we got home and as of now, I officially consider today a complete success. 

I cannot believe how fast time is flying by. I was at the doctor today and the lady across from me had a 2 week old and I can’t believe Kensie was that small just a few weeks ago. She is getting such a little personality and it is so much fun to watch!

Well, of course the night after I post that she hasn’t been having nightly meltdowns K loses. her. shit. (Sorry for the language, but it’s what happened.)  

She had a meltdown this afternoon before I left to go coach and again when we got home for the evening. 

I took that photo to send to Chris because I said she was being clingy today and he said “clingy but not crying?” Ha…

Kensie was really good at the gym but she wanted to be held the whole time. Chris was awesome and wore her so I could workout after I coached. She went right to sleep with her daddy!

I think I’ve confirmed I need to not eat dairy. She seems to be ok with really small amounts, but I had queso last night without even thinking about it.  Complete mom fail.  (Taco Tuesday, heyyyy!) Kensie is usually good at burping during feedings and she rarely spits up. Today she vomited 3 times. 😦 

As she was trying to eat tonight I could hear her stomach rumbling and she’d burst out in tears. I gave her a bath and let her sit in the warm water for a while to calm down. She finally took a large poop (yep, that’s life, folks. Also it was in her diaper, not the bath – just to clarify) and I heated up some frozen milk for her instead. 

She took her bottle and put herself to sleep in her crib for the 2nd night in a row! Woohoo!

All the screaming today led to an evening of 3 episodes of Parenthood and a bottle of red for mom and dad. 

Kensie was pretty entertaining with her morning nap positions today. She woke up at about 8 to eat. She passed right back out so I set her in her boppy so I could get some breakfast. These photos explain her coziness better than words ever could…

And yes, she was breathing. This girl has the life! 

K usually naps at the gym at some point but today she stayed awake the wholllle time. So, naturally she started crying from being overtired. Luckily it was right when daddy showed up so of course he saved the day!

A few days ago I mentioned that I may have found the solution to her nighttime meltdowns…and I think I have! 

I noticed when she was screaming that she was really tired but also hungry. When I’d feed her she was happy at first and then when the supply slowed down and she had to work for it she’d lose it. I’ve started pumping and giving her bottles at night so it comes out easier and TA-DA!!!! She usually falls asleep drinking the bottle and the best part? No more nightly screeching!!!