Kinley is 2 months old!

Kinley -

Another month has flown by and now you're already 2 months old!  I can't believe how much you've grown in the past 4 weeks.  You just look like such a big girl now and not as much like a wrinkly newborn.  : )  You are smiling all the time now when we talk to you and you coo back at us.  I'm convinced that you know what we're saying and that you're talking back to us! Your daddy and I are so in love with your smiles and can't wait until you start giggling, too!  

I should actually say your daddy & I, plus your g-pa's, g-ma's, aunts, uncles, cousins, etc are so in love and utterly obsessed with you!  We've already labeled Grandma Diane as the "baby hog" because she's quick to snatch you up anytime you're around.  BUT that's a good nickname to have!  You are so loved by so many people and I thank god for that every day.  We definitely don't have a shortage of babysitters!

Our little turkey, ready for Thanksgiving - Gobble!

We're still trying to figure out who you look like - I think you're a good mix of both of us.  Some days I think you look like my baby pictures and other days I think you look more like a Tucker baby.  Your hair still looks red in some lights so I'm anxious to see what color it will turn out to be and your eyes look like they'll stay blue!

Swingin'

Much to our relief, you have grown to like your swing.  You've taken some solid naps in it and we usually have to wake you up to eat, otherwise you might sleep the day away!  You also still love bath time except when we get you out and you get cold = tears!  You aren't a big fan of tummy time but we still make you do it.  You would much rather be held so you can see the world as we walk around.

Silly face at the doctor's office

You've transitioned to 0-3 month & 3 month clothes and size 1 diapers.  It seems like you're growing every day and it's fun to discover new rolls forming on your pudgy body!  

Serious face:  Do I really have to get shots??

We had your 2 month check up on the 21st and you weighed 11 pounds 5 ounces and were 22.5 inches long.  That put you 47-49th percentiles for height & weight so you're still right in the middle!  You also got 3 shots, boooo!  Daddy came along for moral support since mommy doesn't like shots or to see you cry and that helped a lot.  I made the mistake of scheduling my Dr. appointment that afternoon so I left a pretty fussy baby with Aunt Sue, oops!

Such a sweet sleeper

Our favorite songs to sing include:  Twinkle, Twinkle, Take Me Out to the Ballgame (from when the Cards were playing), and some crazy song grandma knows called "Mares Eat Oats" which sounds like a bunch of gibberish to me, haha!

Happy 2 month birthday, Kinley!

What we've been up to lately...

Photo dump of Kinley pictures:

Hanging out in the swing 

Drooling with daddy

Uncle Andy came to visit!

Alyssa & Mackenzie came to meet Kinley
(Seems like Kenz was just this little - 5 years ago!)

Aunt Christie & Kinley

Aunt Beth missed her Kinley-bear

Flirting with daddy (don't mind the eyes)

Just swingin' again

I'm smiling & "talking" now!

Like my double chin?!

Hanging in my bumbo - why does she look
6 months old here?! Aaahh!!

Pretty girls - Alicia & Kin

Celebrating Ms. "Fritchler"

My 2nd big night out was for Becca's Bachelorette party on November 12.  The bridesmaids met that afternoon to buy tons of goodies for the festivities and we met at Capital City to begin the celebration.  She got lots of fun gifts - most not appropriate for the blog, ha!  Then we loaded up the bus and hit tons of bars around town.

Party bus! 

Group shot at the 1st bar

Bridesmaids!

Posing with the back of our shirts

It was so fun to relax with girlfriends and dance the night away!  I quickly learned that I am in no shape to dance the way I use to before baby, haha!  My knees just weren't having it!  We even got free "pudding shots" at one bar - sounds nasty but they were awesome & tasted like oreo dirt cake, yum!  It was definitely a successful end to Becca's "single life."

The next day we had Becca's bridal shower at All About Wine.  None of us were ready to drink much from the night before but we still enjoyed some wine.  We started with a few games - one where we had to create a bridal gown out of toilet paper.  Beth was our model...

Notice Becca's dad, Vic, on the left - haha! 

Miss Kinley with Grandma "Weezie"

Showing off her dress with Grandma Diane

Bridesmaids

The shower was beautiful and Becca got some great gifts!  It makes me even more excited to celebrate her wedding in just a few short weeks!

Andy is finally 21!

My 'baby' brother Andy turned 21 on October 27 so Beth had been planning his big celebration for months.  She reserved hotel rooms in St. Louis and a party bus to take us around town on Friday the 28th.  As luck would have it, the Cardinals made it to the World Series and were set to play game 7 on Friday since a game had been rained out earlier in the week.  As awesome as this was, it kind of put a damper on our ability to bar hop around town.  We started out the evening by hanging out in the lobby for the free happy hour with a ton of Cardinals fans.

Kinley checking out the lights with Aunt Beth

 

Then we headed up to the room to get ready for the big night out.  Scott & I decided that my parents could go on the party bus first and then they would come back to switch so we could go out.  

Aunt Cora & Kinley

Watching the action on TV

Kinley got to witness her 1st World Series at the hotel right across from the stadium & her 1st World Series victory from the Cardinals.  Very cool for a 1 month old!

Me, Liz, & Gayle on the bus

We boarded the bus & decided to try to make it out of downtown to a bar but that proved to be nearly impossible.  The town was packed with ecstatic Cards fans celebrating the huge victory - it was awesome to witness!  Traffic was still bumper to bumper so by the time we got to the highway it was 12:30.  We decided to circle back around a go to a couple bars near SLU to get Andy his birthday drinks.

Sibling pics in the bar (minus Cora!)

Mommy & daddy's 1st night out!

The plunger shot, ha!

We made it back to the hotel around 1:30am and by the time we settled down and got Kinley fed it was past 3:00am.  Kinley decided to wake up a little after 6am - yikes!  Even though we were running on 3 hours of sleep the next day, it was so worth it to celebrate such a fun birthday with my bro!

Happy Halloween 2011!

Kinley had a couple of Halloween outfits to model this year so here's some of my favorite photo's from her "modeling session:"

Cutest Jack-o-lantern I've ever seen! 

Had to add the headband 

Tummy Time!  Look at those eyes!

Ruffle-butt

On Halloween night we went over to Rob & Sue's like we do every year and helped hand out candy and hung out.  (I didn't get a pic of Delaney, dangit!)

Kylie was an 80's girl 

Brayden as Patrick Kane

Me & Kinley

Her onesie said "My First Halloween."  It's hard to tell that
there's an awesome tutu attached to the tights!

The 2nd outfit of the night was her Halloween costume - a mermaid!  Beth's roommate Gayle & her sister crocheted it for me, they're so talented!

Flippin' her tail, ha! 

Close-up of her seashell top & starfish headband

Had to put a onesie on so she was warm

We didn't walk around and trick-or-treat this year because it was a little chilly & I wasn't feeling very well.  I'm sure we'll have lots of fun getting candy next year!

On the road to recovery

I've really been slacking on the blog but I have a good excuse - I've been pretty sick & here's the story in a nutshell...

Breastfeeding was going really well once we got past the initial week or two but somewhere during week 5 or 6 I started getting sore again and not feeling so hot.  I felt achy like I had the flu but didn't have a fever - the nurse told me to watch out for mastitis (an infection) if I ever had a fever with the aches.  Well since I never got a fever, I never called the doctor...bad idea.  It's ends up that I had mastitis (probably the whole time) and since it wasn't treated soon enough I developed an abscess.  My doctor sent me to the hospital on Friday to have the abscess drained and to get a drain put in so it could heal.  

Needless to say, it's been a pretty crappy week or two.  Luckily, Kinley is doing awesome and is healthy as can be - mommy just needs to get better.  I was ready to throw in the 'nursing' towel when I left the hospital since that was about as bad as it could get.  I was emotionally drained and didn't want to have to deal with nursing anymore.  All of the lactation consultants I spoke to have urged me to keep nursing because it will help everything heal.  So I've continued to nurse and we've supplemented with formula when Kinley is still hungry.  The first 3 days were really tough on me because I had planned to nurse for at least the first 6 months and I felt like a quitter if I gave up.  I realize that I have more than enough reason to be done with it but something in me just isn't ready.  One minute I'm "over it" and just want to be done and the next I'm sad that I might have to quit.

Anyway, hopefully everything will look better next week and I can get the drain removed because it is such a PAIN!  After that, I think I'll be in a better mindset to make the decision.  I just keep reminding myself that overall, it could be much worse - I could have an awful disease or Kinley could be the sick one.  I'm still counting my blessings and trying to keep a positive attitude even though it's so easy to say "it's not fair!"  I have 3 weeks left of maternity leave and I must enjoy every minute of it with my peanut!   

In the midst of all this we have had some fun, too!  Kinley's 1st Halloween and Andy's 21st birthday blogs are coming soon...