I spoke too soon

So you know how I said MaKenna is a great sleeper? Well, it turns out that getting her to sleep is the tricky part. This girl needs to suck in order to fall asleep. Not really a problem except this causes her to eat too much and then we enter into a whole cycle of a gassy/fussy/crabby/miserable baby. This seems to happen a couple of times a day and I really don't know what to do for her (I have tried a paci and she won't take one...none of my kids did). Last night I was up with her for about 4 hours in the middle of the night. She finally cried intensly for about 2 minutes and then fell asleep as I was pacing the bedroom with her. She has been sleeping for 4 1/2 hours now. Like I said...she sleeps great once you get her to sleep. So any advice or am I just going to have to wait this out?

My little girly girl

It turns out MaKenna is a sleeper. She is hardly ever awake for more than 15 minutes before she is ready to go back to sleep again. So we try to take advantage of those fleeting moments of when her eyes are actually open. Of course, she always has this confused look on her face...I wonder what she is thinking?!

Big Brother to the rescue

Most people think having 4 kids is crazy and they often wonder how we do it. Well, let me tell you that there is many times that I would not be able to do it if it weren't for Blake's help. He is always willing to assist me in any way that I need and for that I am eternally greatful! The other night I was finishing up dinner and MaKenna woke up from her nap. She started crying and Blake went and immediately picked her up. She stopped crying almost instantly and he was able to carry her around the living room while I could finish up. I love how she already knows and accepts her brothers for comfort!

My little hippy baby

There's nothing cuter!

Babywearing Love

There aren't too many things I consider a "necessity" when it comes to babies. I don't have a lot of the typical gear most parents aquire...bouncy seats, excersaucers, playmats, jumperoos, bumbos, etc. But one thing I can absolutely not live without is my storch wrap! MaKenna is a comfort nurser and NEEDS to nurse to fall asleep...that is until I put her in the wrap! Usually within 5 minutes she is out and will stay asleep for at least an hour. Then I can about doing what I need to do.

snuggles

What I get to see

Peaceful bliss

Newborn Sweetness

Snuggle time with Daddy
One of the many times she is held by her brother

She looks grumpy here, but she really wasn't!

Someone passed down several baby headbands to us. Peter thought it would be funny to put it on her and take a picture. Needless to say, she hated it! Must have been the feathers ;-)

This is one of my favorite pictures. A few minutes before, MaKenna had been pretty fussy. Blake started to play the recorder (you can see the book next to her) and she immediately stopped and was just starring at him. It was so beautiful to see!

How can you not love those cheeks!
So yummy!

Much of how MaKenna spends her day...she is a good sleeper!

I call this the superman pose.

More snuggles with Daddy.

Another one of my favorite pictures...ignore the spit-up stain on the sheets! This was taken before Peter had to get up and get ready for work. Isn't this a great way to start your day?!

So serious! She really does smile, but we have yet to be able to capture it on camera.

Parker wanted to hold her on my "bee bop bop". He is always so happy when he holds her.

Here she was fussing after a diaper change and waiting for momma to nurse. The boys came over and let her hold their fingers. She immediately stopped crying....here is the proof she has everyone wrapped around her fingers ;-)

We have been settling in nicely. After some rough goings with breastfeeding, we are over the worst of it and things seem to be going smoothly now. MaKenna is a very good sleeper...I usually get a 5-6 hour stretch of sleep at some point during the night. I can't get over how different she is from the boys...they were attached to my boobs every 2 hours around the clock! We managed to actually get out of the house yesterday. She is an excellent car rider...thank goodness because we like to keep busy! We all couldn't be happier and I am just enjoying these newborn moments because I know all to well how quickly they go by!

MaKenna's Birth Story

It always amazes me at how a woman's body "knows" when labor is going to happen. With Parker, I could just feel the shift about a week before he came and the same thing happened with MaKenna. About two days before labor started, I had this strong desire to clean my house. No matter how clean it actually was, it just wasn't clean enough! I knew then that she would be coming soon. The boys and I spent the Thursday before hanging out at the nature preserve with some friends. We had been talking about how the weekend would be a perfect time to have her come...little did we know! The night before, Blake kissed my belly and told MaKenna she could come out now. She must have trusted her big brother...I woke up around 5 am after a very restless night of sleep with mild contractions that were about 10 minutes apart. I had been having some pre-labor contractions on and off for a week or so, so I really wasn't counting on this being labor quite yet. They continued to progress and by 6:30, they were coming about every 5 minutes. I waited until about 7:30ish to call my midwife. I didn't want to call prematurely, but I was pretty sure this was the real deal. After getting off the phone with her, I called my friend who started the "birth day" phone calls...all my good momma friends lit a birth candle in support of my birthing time. My midwife's assistants showed up around 8 and did a quick listen and blood pressure check. My midwife was finishing up a birth, so she came a little later. Things were starting to get a little more intense, although still manageable. I have to "walk" my babies out...if I sit, the contractions stall and there was no way I wanted that to happen, so I spent the rest of the morning pacing around the house. When my midwife came, she checked my progression at my request and we were all surprised to learn I was 7 cm dilated already! So far, I was able to use my hypnobaby techniques to get me through my contractions. I continued to walk and walk...I could have burned a path in the carpet in my room. I would sit for a little while just because I was starting to get a little tired and my feet were hurting, but again, the contractions would stall a little, so I tried not to sit for too long. Sometime around 12:30 or 1, they began to get really intense. Peter must have sensed that things were kicking into gear because he asked me if I wanted to start running the water in the tub. I think I said not yet, but at this point I had moved into the bathroom anyways. Two contractions later, we had the water going and I was definitely feeling the pressure! I began the typical transitional moans and couldn't wait to get in the water. I was having some intense back labor and was hoping the warmth would help ease the uncomfortableness. Transition was pretty intense and I would say, up until this point I had no pain, but those last contractions hurt! I was getting a little overwhelmed with the pain in my back...my midwife was so supportive and kept reassuring me that things were coming along great. My bag was presenting itself first...unbroken, so after several minutes of pushing, we were finally able to break it which allowed MaKenna to descend further. I could feel the top of her head although I couldn't see it very well. I was pretty exhausted at this point and with every push, the pain in my back just intensified. I finally had had enough and pushed with every bit of strength I had left in my body. I remember my midwife saying "there's her head" and I thought she meant she was crowning, but in fact she was out! I then had to stand up because I was actually sitting on her a bit. I remember looking down and seeing her "fall" into the water and thinking "thank god this is over!". The delivery went so smooth and I only suffered a very, very tiny tear. Once her chord stopped pulsing, we got out of the tub and snuggled into bed for a while. The boys came back from lunch when she was about 20 or 30 minutes old. They got to spend some time with her before they did the newborn exam and then it was back with momma to nurse. I couldn't have asked for a better birth!

MaKenna Ruth Blumenfeld

MaKenna Ruth born at home on June 5th at 1:50p

9 lbs 9 oz

20.5 in

Morning of baby day!
This is the one and only picture of me pregnant...believe it or not, I had been in labor already for 2 hours

Look at that bump!

Here she is!

She had so much vernex, her skin felt like it had been lathered in cocoa butter!

Her big brothers checking her out.

Notice the poop!

Grandma got to put her first outfit on.

She is absolutely perfect and the boys (including Daddy) are just in love! I can't believe she is here...it still feels like a dream!

Pool Time!

It is finally that time of year again! The boys have been waiting months for the pool to open. The last several days have been warm enough for cooling off in the pool and we have been spending some time there everyday. They have been enjoying some evening pool time with Daddy as well while I get to enjoy the peaceful quiet.

Playgroup

Last Thursday at playgroup, Erin performed a finger puppet show for all the kids. It started out just for her son, but soon all the kids were captivated by the silly antics of Lucy and Lola the Llamas!

Crazy Boys

Jacob's 5th Birthday

On May 22nd, my Jakey bug turned 5 years old! We were lucky enough to have warm weather so all the kids could run around outside. We set up the slip n slide, had water guns and water balloons (which I think the dads had more fun with than the kids!). It was a great day and Jacob couldn't stop talking about how much fun he had!

He blew his candle out in about half a second so I couldn't even get a picture of that!

I have only about two shots of Jacob opening his gifts where you could actually see him. The kids kept getting closer and closer to see all the great stuff!

Tony testing out the stilts.

The boys playing Zooreka...we have played this game just about everyday since.

Jacob's gift from us...a guitar!

Another great gift...a wheelbarrow from Granny!