month // 2

Two months baby girl.  Your dad and I were just staring at you last night and thinking how quickly this has gone for us. It seems like you are enjoying life on the outside and your latest is showing us your beautiful smile. Your siblings think it is the greatest thing when they get you to smile. They try tickling you, singing to you and making funny faces. Please don't ever stop showing the world your precious smile. A smile truly is contagious as you have shown us.

Bedtime has gotten easier for all of us. Thank goodness :) You started taking naps in your crib at 6 weeks and just a week ago began sleeping in your crib at night. Just like your siblings, you seem to sleep really well in it. We swaddle you, let you suck on the pacifier a little and sing jesus loves you. We lay you down awake and you normally fall asleep peacefully. Unless of course we waited to long to put you down and you are overly tired. Then we rock you to sleep. You want to be asleep by 6:30 so we follow your cue. Your sister then goes to bed at 7:00 and your brother at 8:00.

You still look more like your daddy. It must be your light skin and blue eyes (for now anyway).

INTRODUCTIONS:
Play mat/activity gym: 
We introduced you to your play mat this past month and you seem to have a love hate relationship with it. Somedays you will lay and kick happily others you cry at first sight.

Bottle:
At 6 weeks you had your first bottle (brand: first born). I pumped and went on a little date with your brother while daddy fed it to you. You took it like a champ. Since then you have had a few more. Sometimes I pump a bottle before we go out on certain adventures with your siblings. Like last week we went to get air (a jump place). It makes it a little easier on mommy when I have all 3 of you.

You had your 2 month check up and you are developing and growing perfectly.

weight: 10 pounds 9 ounces
length:

Thank you for making all of us so happy. Braeden really loves when you pick him up from school and everly loves that you "share" your pacifier with her. Lately she wants to sleep with it during naps while she sucks her thumb. She must think its cool since you like it :) We are all excited to see what this next month has in store for you and what new tricks you show us. I also think we will begin to enjoy more adventures out, as mommy has heeled and feels a lot more comfortable being outnumbered :)

Love you baby girl.
-mama xx

month // 1

One month of you sweet Kenzie. We have been blessed this past month to have you join our family. I don't even know where to start. Yep, tears as I write this {and I'm not a crier}. I am in love with you and in love with the way your brother and sister look at you, care for you and constantly want to hold and kiss you. They already are over-protective of you and at the first sign of a cry everly runs to you and says "it's okay, it's okay, ah kenzie it's okay." Then she places her head on you and puts her arms around you to try and pick you up... That's when mom {me} runs over and interjects a little ;)

Your eyes are a very dark blue and your hair dark brown. You've got your mama's nose and daddy's chin. You love being held and are soothed to sleep the best when sucking, however rocking works too (just takes longer). You still won't take a pacifier and sometimes shove your little hand in your mouth. You enjoy your swing for small spurts and most often enjoy relaxing and stretching out on your changing table.

Somehow you created your own routine very early on and mommy and daddy followed your cue. It goes a little something like this:

- bedtime: between 8:30 and 9:30 for 4-6 hours {except last night you did 7!}
- you wake up 1-2 more times to feed
- wake up time is 6:30-7:00 am {just depends when braeden comes in and wakes you up}
- I then feed you and let you chill on the changing table
- you then go in the swing for a 45 minute snooze while I (or your daddy) make your siblings breakfast
- the rest of the day you eat poop and sleep {on repeat} with a little bit of crying mixed in :)

You are still wearing newborn clothes and diapers, but not for much longer.

first outings:

Dr's for your first check up
target
mall
opa and grandma's
starbucks
rb inn for a girls lunch

I could keep writing but you just woke up....love you sweet girl and happy one month!
xx mommy

celebrating new year's eve :: your daddy brought us home these fun accessories. love him.

gender neutral nursery

I realized I never posted pics of the nursery. Since we didn't know if we were having a boy or a girl we kept everything pretty gender neutral. I'll be honest though, I thought for sure we were having a boy-- so it may have swayed a little more that way. And of course to our surprise we had a girl! Next week I'll post what the nursery now looks like. Just added a few little girly touches :)

team green :: what will baby be?

This past week the weather was gorgeous so I had no excuse but to hit up the beach. With baby #3 coming in less than a week I felt I needed to take a few shots with the kiddos and of course have them hold a pink and blue balloon since we don't know baby's gender. As usual I called up my dad and asked if he wanted to come play photographer. Please keep in mind that he has no photography skills and every pic is normally crooked. But, nothing a little tweaking can't fix :) I've actually never had professional photos taken, so maybe that will be on my 2015 goal list!

Oh and for anyone interested or wondering, I use a free program called PicMonkey to quickly edit photos when need be on the computer.

diy :: dream catcher mobile

I have been wanting to hang something new and different above baby's crib for a while now but wasn't sure what. For Everly, I made a few tissue balls (which are simple and make a cute statement) but felt I wanted to change things up for baby #3. Since we don't know if peanut is a boy or girl it had to be somewhat gender neutral.  This past weekend I was at a craft fair and saw a gorgeous dream catcher and couldn't stop thinking about it. Unfortunately it was a bit too pricey for my tight nursery budget so I decided to make my own {simplified} version and in a mobile. This project took me about an hour and cost just under $15.

The materials:
- sponge brush or paint brush
- embroidery hoop (I used a 12" one) $2.99 at michaels regular price (40% off with coupon :)
- gold paint (69¢ at michaels)
- fake feathers
- gold ribbon/string
- fishing line
- clear tape

STEPS:

1. Paint the tips of your feathers gold. I used 13 feathers. 4 already had black tips when I bought them so I left them like that.

2.Paint your embroidery hoop gold. Let dry.
3.Tie your gold string from one end of the hoop to the other. Repeat until you get the desired look.

4. Cut and tie your string to the hoop. The length can be whatever you want.
5. Tape the tips of your feathers to the end of each hanging string
5. Take your fishing line, tie it to the hoop and then connect it in the middle to hang from your ceiling.

You are done!

Goodbye appointments as a family of four!

Today I had my last Dr.'s appointment for baby #3! Which means, besides the "go time" hospital visit, this was our last appointment as a family of four. I have to give my hubs major props. He has never missed an appointment with either of our three kids-- my rockstar :)
We had such a fun time including everly and braeden in these numerous appointments and making them feel a part of the pregnancy journey. Whether they fully understand it or not, they will soon have a baby brother or sister...

Last appointment. I can't believe how much I have dropped! And yes B loves the "squishy" gel :)

I feel pregnant :: week 25

Yep I officially feel and definitely look pregnant!
baby is the size of a: cauliflower
how far along: 25 weeks
cravings: baked potatoes, weird right?
strange stranger encounters yet? Belly rubbers? Unsolicited advice? now that I have "popped" more, I get many people saying "wow you have your hands full" whenever they see my belly and two kids. I guess they are right :)
weight gain: 24 lbs!
maternity clothes? Absolutely! I just bought some awesome and super comfy pants on the clearance rack at h&m. I am also loving kimonos!
what I miss: wearing my fav pair of lululemons. They wanted to burst at the seams the last time I tried to wear them. So into retirement they will go, for a {long} while.
gender: All of a sudden I am leaning towards a boy.
sleep: I get a second wind at night when I should be sleeping. Baby loves being active around 10:30/11:00 pm. I am the most tired mid-day.

Braeden and Everly went to my last appointment. I love having them be a part of this experience as much as possible. At night when Braeden asks to kiss the baby (my belly) goodnight my heart just melts. He also loves when I read him his "big brother" book. I'll admit, I change a lot of the words to cater more to him though :) Time is still flying by.