Mackenzie: 1 Month Update

I blinked and a month went by, right? That's what it feels like. Our sweet Mackenzie is 1 month old now, and its hard to believe. Over the last month we have definitely had our ups and downs, but I finally feel like I'm getting this kid figured out.

She threw us for a loop when she decided that she didn't like the type of bottles we had...and that each time we fed her a bottle it was like she forgot how to eat. Luckily, we found a type she likes and she's figured out how to eat without her tongue flopping all over the place.

I feel like I've been on web MD about a million times since she was born. Googling things like "newborn constipation" and other glamorous topics. But we're finally settling in, and getting used to what is our new "normal." 

Here's how things are going so far...

Mackenzie Likes

Being swaddled
Sleeping in the swing

wiggling on the floor

Looking at the TV while wiggling on the floor

Spitting up if you don't burp her 3-5 times during a feeding

Falling asleep during a feeding

Letting you think she's fast asleep, only to stare back at you wide-eyed after you lay her down

Getting the hiccups...even if its been hours since she ate

Being awake at 2 am

Trying to hold her head up if you put her on your chest

Acting like the pacifier is the grossest thing you could ever give her

Mackenzie Doesn't Like

Baths

Getting rubbed down with lotion

Sitting in the bouncy chair for more than .025 seconds

 Tummy time

Falling asleep quickly...especially for Daddy

Riding in the car

 Mackenzie sure has a lot of quirks, but we love her anyway! I can tell already that she is very different from her sister and is going to have a very spunky personality. Can't wait to watch her grow...but not too fast please!

Sisters, Sisters.

Everyone keeps asking me how Marley is adjusting to being a big sister, so I thought I'd share how things are going. 

When we first came home from the hospital, Marley came over and looked at the baby for a minute...then went back to playing. Over the next few days she would stop next to the swing or the bouncy chair and just stare for awhile. 

After being home 2 days she came over and did this all on her own, and my heart melted:

Marley is very into the song "Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes" so after I pointed out that Kenzie has eyes and ears she became more appealing. 

So far we've only had one incident where Mackenzie needed to be rescued. Marley decided to throw a tantrum right next to the bouncy chair and landed on part of it as she was flopping to the floor. She gave her sister a good bounce, and Mackenzie flew a good 3 inches off the chair. She didn't cry, but her eyes got real big and her hands flew in the air.

Just in the last few days, Marley has started saying "aww, cute!" whenever she catches me unwrapping the baby. She also likes to grab Kenzie's hands and giggles hysterically when they start flailing around like a newborn. 

 Once Kenzie is awake more, I can tell these sisters will have a lot more interaction and become the best of friends. Can't wait!

The Birth Story: Mackenzie Alice

All along the plan was to be induced with this second pregnancy, for many reasons. She cooperated a lot better than her sister, and everything actually went as planned. 

On Thursday morning we were told to be ready at 6 am for the possible call to come into the hospital. Jason and I got up at 5, were totally ready to go, and no call came. We both fell back asleep and then finally we got the call to come in at 10.

We left Marley with Jason's mom and headed down State Street to Intermountain Medical Center in Murray. They got us all checked in and I was officially hooked up to the pitocin around 11 am. They started things out slowly and gradually increased the meds about every hour. They broke my water around noon and then things started to get really intense. 

Because I have rods screwed into my spine from a surgery I had almost 15 years ago, I have to deliver completely unmedicated...that means NO epidural. As the contractions got more intense I was not too thrilled, but at least it meant things were progressing. 

Early on, the nurse and my doctor told me to let them know right away when I started to feel any kind of pressure or the need to push. Because this was my second pregnancy, they said that things could progress quickly and so I made sure to pay close attention to that. 

At about 2:45 I was having a contraction and felt a TINY bit of pressure. I mentioned it to Jason and so he went out to get the nurse. By the time she came back in and checked me (I was only dilated to a 7) that "tiny bit of pressure" had changed to me needing to push NOW. My nurse started running around frantic and they paged my doctor who was upstairs. 

She came bursting into the room saying, "I got your page and didn't even bother calling, I had a feeling what was happening and just RAN!" Its a good thing she did.

Within about 5 minutes of "feeling pressure" and starting to push, Mackenzie Alice made her way into the world. I still can't believe how fast it all happened and that she is finally here.  

She was born on March 19th at 3:03 pm, weighing 6 pounds 11 ounces, and 22 inches long. 

Our hospital stay went by quickly and we were ready to go home Saturday afternoon. My mom flew in earlier that day and has been here helping us out for the week. 

I'm so grateful that this time around I have been able to heal very quickly. With Marley it took me almost 6 weeks to recover, but this time around I feel SO much better. 

We're loving being home and Mackenzie has been a pretty calm baby. She definitely has her moments, usually at night, where she can get pretty fussy though. Marley is still trying to figure things out, but she's getting used to "the baby" being here. 

We're so grateful Mackenzie made it here safe and are excited about this next chapter as a family of 4. 

Marley Turns 2!

I cannot believe my baby girl is turning 2! As I look back on how much she's grown up in the past year, I am blown away. Marley has developed the sweetest, craziest, silly little personality and we love having her as a part of our family. 

In just the past 2 months Marley has had an explosion of vocabulary, and she can say so many words! I bought her this ABC book and would read it to her every now and then, but I didn't realize she was paying close attention and fell in love with the alphabet. 

That book has since needed to be replaced because she wore it out, and Marley can say and recognize all the letters as well as count to 10. (I asked her how many toes she has the other day, and she counted to 13! Silly kid.) I'd like to take all the credit for that, but Netflix has been a great contributor with their Leap Frog videos. 

She loves books very much and multiple times a day she brings a book over to me and says, "Weeeeed?" (Asking to read) It melts my heart every time, and I've made an effort to always drop whatever I'm doing so she knows its important.

Marley has also become quite the sweetheart. I often find her giving her stuffed animals kisses, "talking" to Daddy on her toy phone when he's at work, and LOVES to snuggle with us on the couch during her shows. She also gives us kisses right before we put her in the crib for bed, because she noticed that I always gave her a kiss too. Recently she's learned how to run up and give people hugs, especially when Daddy comes home.

Marley can also tell when people in her shows are in trouble or having a hard time. She gets very concerned about them (usually Curious George, because he's always messing stuff up) and we're constantly telling her "Its ok!" 

Marley Likes
Mooching food from whoever is sitting on the couch
Coloring
Going to nursery
Doing puzzles
Spotting letters and numbers everywhere
 Snuggling after naptime 
When Daddy comes home
Leap Frog Videos, Super Why, and Curious George on Netflix
Stealing shoes from anyone who leaves them out
Playing with cousins or at Grandma's house
"Helping" put away the groceries
Dogs...like she'll throw a tantrum when she can't see them anymore
knocking on the bathroom door while Daddy is inside
In general, being curious/sneaky/very messy

Marley Doesn't Like
The sun in her eyes
Getting her hair rinsed in the tub
When mommy waits too long to fix breakfast...she gets pretty hangry.
Stressful situations in her shows...she starts whining and flapping her hands like, "Somebody fix this!"
Sleeping in...even if she got to stay up late the night before.

Aside from those lovely toddler tantrums, this really is a fun age. I'm constantly telling Jason stories of funny things she's done or said during the day. I'm going to miss my time at home with just the two of us, but I'm also very excited for Marley to become a big sister next month. Can't wait to see what the next year brings!

Happy Birthday baby girl! 

Read her 12 month update HERE 

  

Highlights from our 2014

Our little Henderson family had another great year! Time seems to fly by, and before we know it we will be a family of 4 soon. Since we didn't send out a newsletter or family picture this year, you can read about our 2014 here on the blog. 

 January: Marley and I spent a lot of time at home while Jason worked and went to school. We were down to just one car at that point so we didn't get out much. That month we bought a new couch which forced us to baby proof the rest of the house because we could no longer keep Marley confined to the living room. Marley also learned how to walk that month.

February: Marley turned one! Her birthday party was lots of fun, and she sort of liked her cake. Jason was still going to school and working as a server at Olive Garden, and I was working 2 days a week at TJ Maxx. 

 March: The highlight of this month was getting a new car! We leased a 2014 Honda Civic and it is amazing. This gave Marley and I a lot more freedom while Jason was at school and work which helped me not go crazy sitting at home all day. 

 April: Marley had fun hunting for Easter eggs with her cousins. We went to the park by our house for the first time, and Marley loved it! That month Jason and I celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary.

 May: We enjoyed the sunshine and did lots of activities outside. We went to the zoo with cousins, checked out the tulip festival, and Marley got to play out in the yard a lot. During this month Jason got a new job driving buses on campus and the U, and cut back his hours at Olive Garden. I quit working at TJ Maxx this month because Jason's new job conflicted with my shifts. 

June: The best part of this month was our trip to Disneyland! My whole family planned a trip together and it was so much fun. Marley loved all the rides, especially the carousels. She did REALLY well and didn't seem to mind being away from home. That month we also celebrated cousin Evie's birthday at the splash pad and learned that Marley LOVES the water. Also, before our trip to Disneyland Jason quit working at Olive Garden for good. 

July: We spent the 4th with Jason's family and had lots of fun shooting fireworks. A few days later we celebrated Jason's birthday and my mom came out for a visit. This month we also had a little surprise...baby #2! Right around the 24th I found out I was expecting, and Marley is going to be a big sister! 

August: This month we spent a lot of time at home since I was feeling pretty crummy. Marley started going to nursery at church and she LOVED it. When we walk towards the room she gets a big smile on her face because she knows where we're going. We sold Jason's car during this month, because it didn't have an air conditioner and just wasn't practical with kids. Jason also started another semester of school and began working as a parking attendant for football games in exchange for free textbooks. 

September: We stayed home a lot this month too, just watching TV and playing with toys. Marley really started to get into reading books around this month, and we loved watching her camp out in the corner with a pile of books. We also celebrated cousin Jackson's 2nd birthday this month and enjoyed any extra time we got to spend with Jason. 
School kept him VERY busy. 

October: We were able to do lots of fun activities this month. We went to a pumpkin patch with cousins, and they had a BLAST playing in the corn pit. Marley just sat there while Jason buried her over and over. I was able to survive another Giants trip to the World Series while pregnant, and they WON! (Just like the last time I was pregnant...can't make any promises for 2016 though.) Halloween was lots of fun too. Marley was a mouse, I was a cat, and Jason was cheese. Just a few days before then we found out that we're having another girl 
and are super excited! 

November: We enjoyed some unusually warm weather during this month, and tried to play outside a lot. Thanksgiving was fun, a few days before we celebrated with my family and then with Jason's family on Thursday. Marley really started to show her "terrible two" colors this month and we had to start using time outs. She's a very passionate little girl, and sometimes just needs a moment to calm down.

December: This was such a busy month, it seemed to just fly by! I feel like we put up our Christmas decorations, blinked, and Christmas was here. Jason finished out a crazy stressful semester and we enjoyed having more time with him during the holidays. We had a great time with Marley on her second Christmas, and she loved opening presents. I had a great birthday on the 30th and we spent New Years Eve at home dealing with colds. 

We were blessed beyond measure in 2014 and are so very grateful for our family and friends. We are also grateful for the opportunity we have to welcome baby #2 in just 3 short months and be blessed with a growing family. 

Stay tuned for lots of exciting things in 2015!

Read about our 2013 HERE