Kacy

Our little Kacy is such a sweetheart. Here are some of my favorite things about my little cutie. She has started smiling for me, and I am convinced that it is not just gas anymore! She makes little squeaky noises when you move her when she is sleeping. She snores. The hair on the top of her head sticks straight up no matter what I do to it. She always likes to have a blanket on her when she sleeps. She loves her "tummy time." Anytime Adilyn is in the room, she stares at her, and it seems like she reaches out toward her to touch her. I can't wait to watch her grow and learn.

"Mama, me and you"

So, as Kacy has become a part of our family full time, Adilyn has had her share of tantrums and fits when I can't carry her or play with her because of Kacy. Honestly, she has done much better with the addition than I thought she would. Some of the funny things she does is that when Kacy starts to wake up or starts to cry a little, she will run to me and say, "Mama, hold you." The funny thing about that is that Kacy could have been asleep for hours, and she never wanted me to hold her until she knew I was about to hold Kacy. If she wants me to hold her, and Cory is around. She will say, "Kacy hold Dada, Mama hold Adilyn."

I can't imagine how hard it must be for her to have her whole little world turned upside down by this little baby that has taken over the family. I know that kids have been dealing with new siblings for years, but it just makes me so sad for her at certain times. She was my entire world for two whole years, and now she has to share me. I know that she understands more than I think she does, but I still wish she could express herself to me a little more, so I would know what she was thinking. Bedtime used to be my favorite time with her - reading and relaxing after the day, now it's so hard because Kacy is in there and it's not our special time together. I know we'll all get our new routines in place soon; it's just an adjustment period for all of us.

I really try to spend as much time with Adilyn as possible when Kacy is sleeping. Her favorite things to do these days are coloring, hiding from us, dancing, and reading books. Whenever she wants me to do one of those activities with her she'll say, "Mama, me and you? Me and you?" No matter what I'm doing - I cannot resist when she says that. So sweet.

Adilyn, the little mommy

I bought Adilyn a book called, "Little Mommy" that had to have been written in the 50's. It's a book about a little girl taking care of her baby dolls. She has a husband who has a job in the city, and she spends her day cleaning the house, cooking, and taking care of the babies. Adilyn really likes the book, and I'm afraid it may be brainwashing her a little bit. Anyway, since Kacy has come along Adilyn has really started "taking care" of her babies. She likes to take them with us when we go run errands. She puts them "night-night" with their blankies, she likes to play "Ring around the rosie" with them, and she likes to have them color with her. It's really sweet to watch her hold them and pat them on their backs when they are "crying".Here she is with her babies, playing "night-night". Looks like she has had a rough night. :)

Kacy Fits Right In

Life in the Henderson house has been interesting since Kacy joined us. There are definitely more dirty diapers that need changing, we go through a box of wipes every 2 days, and it seems that there is a kid in my lap every second of the day. There are also more smiles, more laughs, and more sweet moments to be had. Kacy is still very laid back, which is nice. She only gets upset when she is hungry or when she's tired. She snores, just like her daddy (except not quite that loud!)She is waking up every two to three hours at night to eat, but she goes to sleep pretty easily after that. When she is awake (which isn't that often) she is very alert and loves to look around at everyone. Adilyn likes to hold her, and she still laughs at Kacy when she makes different noises. We are all doing well, and we love having Kacy in our lives. What a blessing!

Here are some new pictures of her.

Kacy and Maren (her cousin) - 7/11/09

Kacy, playing - 7/3/09

Kacy and Mimi - 7/5/09

Bumpin' Knuckles

Adilyn wasn't too sure what to think of her new sister in the hospital. I think her facial expression in this picture says it all. She didn't really acknowledge her, and she was happy still being cute and being the center of attention for Mimi, Pops, and Nammie. Once we got home, she was pretty good for the most part except for when I was feeding Kacy. I think she knew that that was the one time that I couldn't do anything for her. Pops and Mimi were great distractors for those first few days. After a couple days, Adilyn would look at her and laugh if she moved or made a funny noise. She tells us everytime she is "frying" (that means "crying"), and she likes to try to give her kisses. Things are going really well so far. I was really concerned about how she would adjust. Here are some funny stories of things that she has said or done in the first week of Kacy's life...I'm sure there will be many more to come!

*She looked at Kacy's toes and said, "Mama, little toes." Then, she looked at her toes and said, "Mama, big toes."

*She wanted me to hold her when I was holding Kacy and said, "Mama, hold Adilyn. Swing, hold Kacy." She wanted me to put Kacy in the swing.

*When she wanted to hold her the first time she said, "Mama, hold it?" It = Kacy.

*One time when she was holding her, she wanted to go get a blanket and she just jumped up - luckily I was holding Kacy's head.

*I looked over at her this morning, and she was draping Kacy's blanket over her super gently in the swing, just like I do.

*We were watching Mickey Mouse, and she was holding her baby in exactly the same position I was holding Kacy.

And my favorite...

*She "punched" Kacy in the belly ever so soft, but I still said, "Don't hit your sister." pretty firmly. She looked at me with a hurt look on her face and said, "Mama, bump knuckles." She was bumping Kacy's knuckles (like giving her a high-five with her fist) because Kacy's hands were clinched in a fist. :) So sweet...

I love watching my two sweet babies interact. I can't wait for the lifetime of fun times and cute stories ahead of us. Believe me, I am in no way blind to the fact that these two little girls are going to fight like crazy sometimes, but I still can't wait for all that there is to come for us. I feel so lucky and blessed to have such an amazing little family.

Introducing...Kacy Michelle

After waiting for 10 long months, Kacy finally arrived at 1:57am on June 30. She was a big girl - 8 pounds and 15 ounces - 20.5 inches long. I had gone to the doctor that afternoon, and when I got back home, I had the feeling that I was going to have the baby that night. The midwife that I really wanted was on call that night, so I was really ready to go. I started having contractions around 9pm on Monday night. We finally set off for the hospital around 10:30. The drive to the hospital was much less stressful than the first time around. I was having contractions, and they hurt, but I didn't feel like the baby was going to fall out of me every bump we hit! (That's how it felt last time!) We got to the hospital and I was only dilated 5cm. I thought it was going to take forever. My midwife told me to start walking in the hallways. I asked her, "What if my water breaks?" She said, "You are in the labor and delivery wing...it's fine." So, Cory and I took off walking. I had to stop every time I had a contraction and hold on the wall railing. People who were in the waiting room were looking at me like I was crazy. I was convinced that my water was going to break right in the middle of the hallway and splatter all over some poor man's loafers! :) When the contractions started getting closer together and a little stronger, I told Cory that I felt more comfortable in the room. We slowly trucked ourselves back to the room, and when we got there they were coming on a lot faster and a lot stronger. The midwife and the nurse came back in and set up the bed like a little chair. The midwife told me just to tell her when I felt a lot of pressure between contractions. After about 30 more minutes of contractions, it was time to push. After about 4 pushes, the baby came right out. I remembered it hurting last time, but I didn't remember just HOW much it hurt when that baby came out! Wow! As soon as she came out, they put her on my chest and announced that it was a girl. What a moment...it's amazing to think what your body can do. The miracle of life is truly amazing, and I feel so privileged to have gotten a chance to experience it. I had no complications this time, which was such a blessing. Kacy had to have her blood glucose level checked because she was so big, and her numbers came back a little low. We were in recovery for about an hour, then went to postpartum. When we got there, they checked her numbers again, and they were even lower. They had to take her immediately to the nursery to give her formula. I panicked and told them that they couldn't give her any formula! I have heard stories that once a baby gets formula, they won't breastfeed anymore. Anyway, she told me that there was no other option, so Cory and Kacy left for the nursery. As she left, I whispered in her ear, "Please don't like the formula!" :) I laid there alone in the room for what felt like a lifetime, although it was really only an hour. All that was on tv to distract me was all the business about Michael Jackson's death...that didn't make for very good entertainment. Finally, I called the nurses and asked them what was going on. They told me that she wouldn't take the bottle (that's my girl!), so they had to give her formula with a syringe. They came back a little while after that, and she was sleeping soundly all wrapped up, hospital-blanket burrito style. Poor girl had to get stuck in the heel three times to get blood drawn. What a way to come into the world...Everything was fine after she had her formula, so no more worries, thank goodness!