Thanksgiving, Part Deux!

On Tuesday night, Bryan's family started arriving. His brother Kevin, his wife Tracie, and their two girls stayed upstairs in Noelle and Kellen's rooms (with Noelle moving to our floor briefly and Kellen remaining in the pack and play in the office) and his brother Kenneth and his wife stayed in our basement guest room. Then, his mom and her husband, Carl, his grandmother, and his dad and other brother, Raymond, all stayed at a local hotel. So it was quite a Saxton crowd for several days!

On Wednesday, we took the girls to Storyville to play for a bit before having everyone over for the afternoon and for dinner. It was my first attempt at cooking for 13 (while trying to feed my 5.5 week old every two hours) and it went pretty well despite me slightly underestimating the amount of food Saxton's could consume! Another pot of pasta later, everyone was satisfied!





Since only Bryan's mom had met Kellen already, we took some time for the family to get to know him. And we also got to meet 8 month old Charlotte. She is a sweetheart and it is sad that we live so far away that the cousins only get to see each other once a year or so. Thankfully, Noelle and Rubie loved one another and spent the entire trip playing hard!







Thanksgiving started with us enjoying the very un-Thanksgiving weather. It was almost hot in our fall clothes! We took everyone down to the tire park and got the girls' energy out. I took the opportunity to walk with Kellen and Maddie, anticipating Maddie getting some extra goodies over the visit!



Thanksgiving dinner itself went well, although I'd be fine not cooking all parts of that meal myself ever again. Especially since Bryan and I aren't even fans of turkey and half the fixings that come with the meal! But we had turkey, ham, macaroni and cheese, mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole, rolls, green been casserole, apple sauce, and I think some other things I am forgetting. And then we had pie and ice cream! After dinner a few of us did our only shopping of the weekend by running over to Old Navy for their big sale. Santa made a few purchases!





The day after Thanksgiving we went down to DC. Apparently we weren't the only ones not shopping since the Natural History museum was packed, and finding reasonable parking was a huge hassle. We only stayed a little while, but Noelle had a blast looking at the dinosaurs and other animals. She and Rubie walked hand and hand through the exhibits I hear. I say I hear because I spent the majority of the time in DC feeding Kellen. Finding a spot that was somewhat private was a bit of an undertaking! But then I got to enjoy a few exhibits too and we all enjoyed the lovely weather.





After the museum, some of Bryan's family visited Arlington Cemetery while we went home to rest and hang out with Bryan's mom, Carl, and grandmom. Everyone was home to eat a big taco dinner and then the 4 brothers journeyed to Costco to look at electronics. If only we had video of that adventure as I'm sure it was crazy! Then it was time to say goodbye to everyone not staying at our house as all but Raymond would be leaving early the next morning. Raymond moved on over to our house Saturday and hung out with us until Monday.

So that was Thanksgiving. It was fun but totally exhausting. We'll miss everyone and hope to see people next year - hopefully in Disney World!

Six Week Appointment

Today Kellen had his one month, aka 6 week, check up. Based on our doctor's schedule and the holiday we were a bit delayed in our appointment. Everything looks good though with Kellen weighing in at 10 pounds 12 ounces. How he can gain weight at this rate with the amount he spits up will continue to be a mystery to me but I'm relieved he is growing well. He is 22.5 inches long with a head circumference of 39.5 cm. All his measurements put him pretty squarely in the 50th percentile for boys of his age. Kellen also got one shot and he was a rockstar. He does much better at the doctor then Noelle ever does! We'll go back for our 2 month appointment the first week of January since we have to wait at least 4 weeks between shots and they aren't scheduling well visits Christmas week. But we'll get back on track for his 4 month appointment in late February!

First Family Thanksgiving

The Sunday before Thanksgiving we headed up to Philly to introduce Kellen to the Gidjunis clan and to have our first Thanksgiving celebration of the year. It was nice to have my parents, brother, and Dakota visit with us here on Friday and Sunday nights before and after the big feast and we enjoyed some beautiful weather as Bryan got the Christmas lights up and did some raking of leaves with Noelle.





Then Sunday morning the Saxton's hopped in the car, drove up 95 (how great is the new EZPass toll in Delaware!), and had a feast with my parents, brother, grandmother, aunts, uncles, and cousins. It was nice to see everyone, and it has been years since we've had a family dinner that my mom, dad, and brother were all able to attend. We had a nice time and it was great for my grandmom to get to spend some Kellen cuddle time!







While the day was crazy, it was just an easy warm-up to our real Thanksgiving where Bryan's entire family descended on MD to meet Kellen and hang out from Tuesday night til Saturday (Monday for his one brother!) We'll post on that adventure soon!

Reflux Check

Kellen is one month old! Due to his pediatrician needing to be out of the office his one month appointment was postponed til the 29th. Since that is still two weeks away, I asked to talk to a nurse just to check in about his spit up issues. Kellen spits up after pretty much every feeding, sometimes multiple times. Usually it is just a little milk, but about once a day we are talking some impressive projectile action! The nurse was concerned enough about all of this that she wanted a doctor to check him for reflux today. So in we went and we saw Dr. Landrum who one of our friends uses. As suspected, Kellen is having no problems gaining weight despite throwing up half his food. He was just short of 10 pounds at his weigh in so has gained more than the average 6 ounces a week that newborns generally put on. Besides the weight check the doctor asked questions about his eating, burping, and temperament. The verdict? Kellen does have reflux but just because everyone does. His real diagnosis? He is a "greedy eater." Basically this means that I am producing more milk than he needs and he just keeps chowing down despite his tummy being full. Apparently this is pretty normal for subsequent babies whose older siblings were breastfed because our milk comes in faster and fuller than for new moms. So what does this all mean for us? According to the doctor, just more laundry the next 4 months or so! As long as Kellen doesn't seem to be in pain and continues to gain weight we don't need to be concerned so it looks like just a lot more outfits for him and me each day. He's set but I might need to go shopping for me!

Milestones

Bryan and I have gotten a bit too reliant on our technology. While we love our iPhones and iPad, you can't post pictures to the blog with them. And while we have taken pictures, we haven't been great downloading them. Then came the death of our computer. It hasn't been great for some time. Then I dropped it at week 36 or so of my pregnancy which didn't make things better. And then it just didn't want to do anything. So we headed to Costco and got a new inexpensive laptop to do what the iPad can't and took the weekend saving our files and pictures from the old computer. Mission accomplished, but it took basically three full days!

So that is our poor excuse for not blogging or posting pictures! Kellen is doing well though. He turned 4 weeks yesterday and just started smiling the last few days. He remains very serious but sometimes his crazy family definitely cracks him up! He has also started babbling a tiny bit which is fun to listen to. He continues to eat (and spit up/vomit) constantly. He started taking a pacifier occasionally and took a bit of milk from a bottle yesterday. And finally, this morning, he had his first blowout. Happy Monday, Mom!


Meeting his BFF John


Tummy Time. Showing off his super strong neck!


Experiencing lots of Noelle love!

Life As We Now Know It

Since Bryan's been back at work since just after Kellen's arrival (and even in trial the past two days) and our help is gone we have spent some time getting settled in to a routine. As expected, life with two kids and a dog is a bit challenging, but we are managing pretty well. Noelle loves her brother way more than I ever imagined. If anything I worry she is going to crush him with her hugs and kisses! She loves to hold him and help with him. She is definitely showing some signs of jealousy (the phrase "You're my mommy" comes out quite a bit) but she has been pretty patient with everything, especially when I am feeding Kellen and can't help her immediately all the time.

Last Friday was my first full day of having both kids myself. And we survived! I took the kids to Storyville and Kellen slept in the baby bjorn while Noelle and I played wth friends. Then we came home and crashed for a family nap! On Sunday while BSax worked, I had the kids for the day and thIngs went well again. Getting out of the house and playing has been key and thankfully the weather has been gorgeous! It is also helping that Noelle is still at daycare most of the week. Having time to bond with Kellen has been great and even though I generally don't nap, it is so much more relaxing to be able to go on long walks with Maddie and run errands with just the baby. It also has been great that we have met up with lots of friends, even when Ellie is at daycare. And finally the fact that I have made probably 2 dinners for our family in the last 4 weeks thanks to my mom and friends has been amazing!

Our bedtime rituals have adjusted to make room for Kellen, and it has been nice that both Bryan and I are around most mornings to get Noelle ready for the day. Kellen remains not the best sleeper, so I am up with him about every 2-3 hours still. He also has been less happy the past two days between his extensive spit up situation and a little congestion making him uncomfortable but he is developing his very serious personality and is a cutie. So we are tired but doing well. It is hard to believe Kellen will be 4 weeks this weekend. Guess I should probably order birth announcements soon!

Trick or Treat

Monday was Halloween and since my mom was in town from helping me drive back from NC the day before, Noelle stayed home from daycare. We had a nice morning with a Target run, lunch, and then making a fall leaf art project. After Noelle's nap we got the kids dressed up and drove down to Old Town Ellicott City for some late afternoon trick or treating. We met a few mom friends down there and walked main street as the businesses gave out candy to everyone. Walked is actually probably not the best world. It was super crowded and the sidewalks there are super narrow so it was more like pushing your way through. It was almost impossible with the stroller in a few places, but we did it and Ellie had fun. Her costume was also a huge hit! Kellen behaved for awhile but towards the end was fed up and hungry so I raced to the car to feed him while my mom finished up the street with Noelle.







After the craziness downtown, we had some friends over for a last minute dinner before taking the kids out trick or treating on the street. Bryan had to work late and got home with a horrible migraine so he stayed home, Kellen went in the wrap and we headed out, dog and all. Noelle started out shy but by the 5th house or so she was running up and down driveways, saying trick or treat, and practically bounding in to neighbor's houses. She told me "one more house mom," about 7 times and we ended up doing the whole street. Kellen had a good time too as he got to meet some more neighbors and sleep in his favorite position, tummy to tummy with mommy! So now we just need to get rid of all our loot before we all get cavities! Noelle asks for an ice cream pop, aka lollipop, as soon as she gets downstairs each morning! Since I make her share with her daycare friends, I think at least those are almost gone!







We hope everyone else had a Happy Halloween!

Kellen the Camel

Kellen has been quite an easy baby. Sure he likes to eat and cries occasionally but you can put him down and usually he is happy as can be to just chill out and watch the world. His only real issue? He may be part camel. Seriously the little guy spits up so much I sometimes wonder how he could possibly be growing at all. But he definitely is growing and he could put most toddlers to shame with the number of times he goes to the bathroom each day. So despite the spitting (and hence his desire to eat every hour on the hour) I am going to declare him the perfect two week old. I'll just keep bringing 3 outfits, 4 burp cloths, and an extra shirt for me each time we take a trip around the block!