Keenan turned 3 months old yesterday.

I cannot believe 3 months have gone by. I'm enjoying this age though and I know it's only about to get better. Keenan is finally settling down with all his fussing. He's happier and we're happier! Don't get me wrong, he still cries but now maybe a total of 2 hrs per day instead of all day. He smiles so much. I love it! I can't wait until he starts laughing. I have always loved the sound of baby laughter. He's is still sleeping in our room at night because he still get's up 1x to eat and I just like being able to have him right there next to our bed. I'm too tired and lazy in the middle of the night to have to treck to his room to get him and feed him! During the day he now naps in his crib which is exciting. He is still breastfeeding like a champ. We went straight through with Cayden until she was on milk in a sippy cup. Not sure if we will go that long with Keenan. We'll see. Keenan's biggest accomplishment the past few days is thumb sucking. He has mostly mastered that skill!

Thanks Daddy!

Poor Keenan. Daddy has passed on the one trait we were hoping for our little girl not boy! Keenan seems to have inherited Daddy's curly hair. Of course Eric keeps it pretty short so one wouldn't know how curly it really is. We noticed when Keenan was only a few weeks old that his hair was starting to get that thick, kinky, texture. A few weeks after that it just got thicker and more noticeable. After he lays on something and especially after his bath it's out of control. I keep brushing it straight but I know that will only work for now. Pretty soon I won't be able to straighten it. Looks like Keenan is now destined for short hair.

Here's some after bath curly shots:


Here's after Mommy tames it down with lots of combing!:

Picture people experience/traveling

We took Keenan to picture people to get his portrait done on Tuesday. They've changed the way they do things and it's really great. You get to view your pictures on this huge screen and then you decide what you want and what size, quantity etc. He was a trooper and his pictures came out great! We wanted to get some of Cayden and Keenan done together but by then he was just finished so we will just try that again another day. We were planning on just getting one 8x10 because they are pricey but they were so good we ended up buying three. It's hard having kids that are so damn cute ;) I have them but they are not scanned in yet so I can't show them. I'll do that when I get back.

Cayden, Keenan, and myself are headed out of town today and won't be back until Sunday. We are visiting a friend in Maryland who has children around the same age. Our girls are only 10 days apart and our boys are 6 1/2 months apart. It's going to be fun and interesting. I can't wait. Now let's hope no-one asks us all the kids names while we are out because it will be hilarious. It's Cayden, Kennedy, Carson, & Keenan! Eric is excited too I'm sure because it means he has the house to himself for the next 3+ days. Add that in with that fact that he just got xbox 360 and let me just tell you - he's thrilled!

Tell it like it is Cayden!

Toddlers are hilarious. They certainly don't try to sugar coat anything. I was putting on Keenan's pajamas and he was screaming his head off. Cayden comes up to him and says:

"Keenan you can't cry always all day. You just can't do that all the time. It hurts our ears".

I was laughing for so long after that! Later on I was asking her "Cayden are you my girl?". And she told me "No I'm not your girl (which she pronounces gurl) Mommy. Sometimes I am your girl and sometimes I'm not. I'm not going to have any Mommy time today, maybe tomorrow". Well thanks kid!

Sigh - Time to start CIO.

We are beginning the hard (for mommy) process of CIO (Cry it out). What exactly does it mean? Well CIO is a process done to teach baby to fall asleep by themselves. Basically to be able to lie in their bed and go to sleep without being rocked or held etc. At 2 1/2 mths old we had to start CIO with Cayden. She was still getting up at night to eat 2x's which is totally normal for a breastfed baby. The problem was after she nursed and burped we would lay her down and she would jolt awake and scream her head off. Pick her up and she'd fall right to sleep.

My pediatrican told me about CIO and recommended I do it. A lot of people don't believe in it and think it's cruel, some people believe in it and swear by it. I was on the fence. It took 7 days and the first few were the longest days of my life. We did it at night. We started a routine to get her to understand it was bedtime. We would do bathtime, quiet time, nursing, bedtime. The first and second night she screamed for 45 minutes before falling asleep. I remember sitting outside of the room and crying too. But it was either give this a try or hold her all night long. The 3rd night she cried for 35 mins, the 4th night for 25 mins. The 5th and 6th night she only cried 15-20 mins and by the 7th night she didn't make a peep!!! This helped us so much. She still got up to eat at night but would go right back to sleep by herself. 2 weeks later she started sleeping through the night 10 to 12 hrs. So 7 days of crying 1x per night was worth it for us!

Keenan has been an excellent sleeper so far. He really only gets up 1x per night. Because of his reflux we have to hold him upright for 10 to 15 mins after each feeding at night. If we lay him down right away he will throw up all over. Usually he passes out during those 10 mins, we lay him down and he doesn't make a peep. Well the past few nights that is not the case. He too is jolting awake the minute we lay him down. I'm taking a different approach this time and we are starting during the day for naps. He is currently sleeping in our room at night in a pack n play next to our bed. I'm going to do CIO for naps in his crib in his own room to help him get use to his room. Wish me luck.

Look what Keenan's doing

Keenan isn't feeling too great due to all those shots he got today (see post below). He was resting on me when he found his thumb and went to town! This is the second time he has gotten it. When I was pregnant with Keenan I did NOT want him to be a thumb sucker because Cayden is still sucking hers! Even though she mostly does it for bed (unless she finds something laying around with a tag) I still wish she'd stop! With all his fussiness since birth I gave in and gave him a pacifier (yes shocking for those who know me well since I always hated them so much!). Recently I've been hoping he'd find his thumb so he could soothe himself when he's fussy because that's pretty often! Cayden found hers at 12weeks and hasn't stopped so with Keenan at 11 weeks now I'm pretty sure he'll get better at it and then we can say goodbye to the paci!

Keenan had his 11 week checkup today!

We just got back from Keenan's well visit. The poor little guy had to take one oral med and then got 4 shots, 2 in each leg. There is nothing worse than hearing that piercing scream each time they get a shot. I think it hurts me worse then him! I love going to well visits because I can't wait to hear his stats. I always pull out Cayden's baby book and compare their sizes. Cayden was long but she was our little chunk. Keenan is so long and lean! His sister who was smaller than him at birth always seems to outweigh him at each milestone. At 11 weeks she was 23 3/4 inches and 12.5 lbs. Keenan is 24 1/4 inches and 11lbs 4oz. His weight is in the 25th percentile but his height is in the 90th percentile. What am I going to do with my long boy? He has already been wearing 3-6 mth clothes for 2 weeks and let me tell you, there's barely any room to grow. 3-6 mth clothes are for babies between 23-26 inches. I have a feeling by the the time he's 3 1/2 months he will be going into 6-9 mth clothes for the length!!

A little bit about us

I met Eric while I was in college. I started working at a bar where he was bartending. We started talking, then dating, and the rest is history. We got married October 19, 2002.
We have two wonderful children, what more could I ask for?

Our daughter, Cayden Paige, was born Feb 12th 2004 after a very easy pregnancy. She weighed in at 7lbs 6oz and was 19.5 inches long. That's about average for a full term baby. Considering she was 15 days early she wasn't small by any means. She was a very easy going and happy baby. She started talking at 9mths and hasn't stopped since. Sometimes I can't believe she is going to be 3 yrs old already!

Our son, Keenan Alexander, was born October 24, 2006. I had a very difficult pregnancy. I was in and out of labor from 28 weeks on. I ended up having to go to the hospital several times and was given meds to stop labor and also steriods for the baby's lungs. My tummy was getting bigger and bigger and I kept having all these contractions. The dr's were suspicious that the baby was very large and that my body was having a hard time carrying the weight. I had an ultrasound to check size and found out the baby was going to be a bit big. Keenan was also born 15 days early and weighed in at 8lbs 2oz and was 21.5 inches long! Since he's been born he has been quite a handful. Unlike his happy go lucky sister, Keenan is quite the crank! He has reflux and colic and well sometimes we just want to run screaming from the boy! Good thing he's cute or we might consider running far away;)


Here's a few pictures:

Why the blog?

A friend of mine has a blog and I love reading it. It's great to see what's going on and see pictures of her sweet baby girl (yeah I'm talking about you Karen!). I've decided to start my own blog so family and friends who don't get to see us very often can keep track of what's new with us.