Mom & Dad Visit Kent in September!

This past weekend mom & dad came to visit us.....or should I say, Kent? We just happen to be a bonus these days. My parents enjoyed every moment with their precious little grandson. It's crazy to think that he is 15 weeks old already.

Kent is definitely a more smiley baby & does better at being awake & happy.

On Saturday night we went to dinner with both sets of grandparents, who enjoyed watching their grandson sleep through the entire meal. We propped him up in his carseat in the booth, and after watching the lights for a while, he fell asleep.

This is a random picture that my mom said I had to document at some point, so it might as well be now. Here is my current supply of pumped breastmilk that is in my deep freeze. Yep, I have about 60, 5ounce bags ready to go! Boy do I feel like a cow....can you say "moo, moo?"

A family picture before going to church on Sunday morning. Our boy is getting more heavy everyday...I guess it has something to do with that milk he is drinking...see above picture. :)

Mom & dad with little Kent. We enjoyed our time together this past weekend. They are planning to come & visit in another month, so we are looking forward to it!

Thanks, mom & dad, for a fun visit! We love you!

Happy Birthday Paula!

We celebrated Paula's birthday out at PF Chang's this year. Billy made the night special through many thoughtful touches, like flowers for the centerpiece, reservations for the outdoor patio, and a yummy chocolate mousse cheesecake. It was a little chilly the night we celebrated (at least that's what Amanda & Paula tell me, I'm hardly ever cold...guess it comes from growing up in Ohio), but the restaurant had outdoor heating lamps that seemed to help.

We all enjoyed a yummy Chinese meal.

Kent, as you can see, slept through most of the meal after he had his dinner.

Grandmother & Granddad Herd enjoying the meal. Grandmother Herd loved the chopsticks & said they would make good tools in her flower arrangements at the village. Our waiter offered to let her have a few sets of chopsticks, but I don't think she ended up taking any.

Billy leading the singing of "Happy Birthday".

We love you, Paula! Glad we could be a part of your birthday. Thanks for making her birthday special, Billy. You do a great job at celebrating every moment!

Got the Sniffles...

There is some type of nasty cold going around here. It all started when I got a sore throat & lost my voice last week right before I started back at work. Then I developed a bad stuffy nose/cold this weekend. I prayed that Kent wouldn't end up with it, but it was kind of inevitable that he would catch the cold since he is nursing.

Kent did catch the cold, but is so far managing ok. Kyle & I being first time parents didn't know what we could do to help him when he woke up at 11:15pm on Monday night. (he usually sleeps from around 8pm to 7am now...thank goodness!) So I knew something was wrong when he woke up crying. Kyle did an awesome job as daddy calling the pediatrician's call service to get some help/guidance. Kent doesn't like saline drops or the bulb suction thing up his nose at the time you are doing it, but I can tell that it is helping. Poor baby! We also busted out the humidifier that I got as a baby shower gift. (It was honestly one of those things at Babies R Us that I just kind of added to the registry as an afterthought...boy am I glad I added it! How nice to not have to make a trip to the store in the moment!).

Now daddy Kyle also has caught the cold. Mine is still hanging around, but I'm slowly feeling better. So that's been what's up this week. Kent is doing better everyday at daycare, and the daycare is doing a better job at following his schedule. It is an adjustment to just have a couple of precious hours with my little boy in the evenings instead of all day, but I am thankful for every moment with Kent. And after Kent is in bed, it's nice to have some time for just Kyle & myself too. Speaking of, I need to stop blogging & go see my wonderful hubby.

Back to Work

So where have I been? Where have all of the blog updates gone? Don't worry, I haven't quit blogging yet. I just have started back to work this past Wednesday, so there just hasn't been time for much else after working all day.

Overall, I am glad to be back at my job. I love working in transplant. The work environment is wonderful, which is a huge blessing compared to other places I've worked in the past. I also love my coworker who is a minister's wife and a great support to me as a new mom. I owe her big time for taking up the slack for me while I was gone for 12 weeks. So thank you, Tanya!

The past 3 days of daycare have been an adjustment, but have gone about as well as can be expected, which I'm thankful. The workers at the daycare fill out a communication form everyday that they send home with me so I can get a glimpse of what Kent's day was like. For all 3 days, he got a "happy day" comment, which made me feel good. Yesterday Kent even participated in making an American flag in honor of 9/11 with his handprint! The form tells me things like what time they changed his diaper & what was in the diaper, what time he took a nap & for how long, what time they fed him & how much he ate. The first day they forgot to give Kent his reflux medicine, but did better after that. Kent also isn't sleeping well at the daycare (usually about 1 hour total all day, which makes for a very tired, cranky baby in the evenings) mainly because he has to sleep on his back (he sleeps on his belly at home). The daycare workers told me to go and buy a swaddling blanket that looks like a baby sleeping bag to try out next week, as they said he does sleep better on his back when he is swaddled. He just kicks off his blanket & wakes himself up. So I'm about to make another Babies R' Us run today. The daycare also doesn't understand Babywise, which I was kind of surprised about. It has taken a lot of communication on my part to stress to them the importance of following his feeding schedule, etc. One day this week they didn't follow the schedule, which made for a stressful evening for me because I didn't know what Kent needed. After talking with his teachers the next day, they did better. I dont' want to sound like a "OCD" mother, as I know I have to be a little flexible since they are caring for 7 other infants along with Kent. But at the same time, I am paying quite a bit for them to care for him.

So in summary, please pray that Kent will sleep better while at daycare and that the workers will do their best to follow his usual routine.

Another good thing happened just last night....Kent is sleeping longer at night now...hallelujah! This means that I have eliminated his 10pm feeding, aka "dreamfeed." So the last time I feed him is around 7-7:30pm, I give him a bath, then he is in bed around 8:30-9pm and doesn't wake up until 7am! This works out great since I am getting up earlier (5:30am) for work. The only thing I don't like about this earlier bedtime is that it makes it difficult to be out & about later at night or at a friend's house. I'm hoping to learn how to flex this around as I adjust to this new part of Kent's routine.

As for breastfeeding, I'm still able to manage in the mornings & evening while working. Kent so far hasn't rejected me after being fed from a pumped bottle at daycare, so I'm thankful. I'm going to try to keep up with this for as long as possible. Pumping at work is working out well, as my job is pretty flexible. I can pump either in my office or my nutrition consult room down the hall that has private bathroom, so the setup for pumping success is there. It is extra work & you do have to be pretty good at planning your day out in order to figure out when to pump, etc, but so far I've managed ok.

Thanks to everyone for your prayers as I adjust to returning to work, in addition to the never ending job of being the mother Kent needs.

Happy 92nd, Grandmother Herd!

92...wow! This past weekend, Grandmother Herd turned 92. We all celebrated her big day over a delicious Chinese-cuisine lunch prepared by Paula on Sunday.

Grandmother Herd requested for her birthday cake, a blueberry scone cobbler thing prepared by Paula. It was delicious, of course! For the recipe, I believe Paula will put it on her recipe website (www.salad-in-a-jar.com)

Despite turning 92, Grandmother Herd is really with it, and is a good example to me of how to not give up on learning new things. She is one of the few grandparents I know who can use a computer, operates a digital camera, emails, and makes greeting cards. She has a wonderful gift of arranging flowers, and cheers up the residents at her retirement community, Lakewood Village, with various flower arrangements on a daily basis. It's neat to see how God is continuing to use her to bring a smile to other's faces despite her age.

Paula has become quite the photographer lately. She even took a class at UTA for about 6 weeks to learn a few more tricks to make the food pictures on her website even more professional looking. It may be fun to get into photography myself in the future, but for now I'm more of just a "point & shoot" girl.

Posing for the camera before enjoying lunch on Sunday. We love you, Grandmother & Grandpa Herd! I know you read our blog, but don't know how to leave a comment. It's ok....the comment feature on this blog software is a bit tricky, so don't feel bad. We love you for at least reading our posts.

Aunt Amanda & Uncle Brett enjoyed watching Kent at the birthday party on Sunday. Kent was quite the social butterfly over lunch, and is getting more entertaining.

I think the next family birthday party is Paula's, so watch for it soon. She claims that she doesn't want a birthday party, but whatever...Paula, we are going to do something to celebrate, so there!

Have a blessed day, everyone! We love you, Grandmother Herd!