Enzyme update

Giving enzymes has gotten much easier! I still remember the first time I had to give her those little beads mixed in applesauce at just 3 weeks old. It was only 1/2 cap but she gagged and I cried. She is now taking 2 1/2 capfuls and is able to take them out of a spoon, making it much easier for both of us! She will have to take these the rest of her life with every meal and every snack. They are literally vital for her. So until she is able to swallow the capsules whole, we will have to keep coming up with new ways to give them.

Trying to crawl!

Kelsie is trying to crawl! She's figuring out how to move her knees up to push off. but she doesn't yet understand how to use her arms to make herself go.  She'll be on the go before we know it!

Giggles and kisses!

We crave this little girl's laughter and think it is one of the sweetest sounds on Earth!

Her kisses are the BEST!!

What a day!

Started it off by waking up late, then by the time I fed Kelsie and put her back down, I only had about 20 min to take a shower, get dressed, grab breakfast, and get my lunch and pumping stuff all together. So I ran out the door in a hurry only to get to work and realize that in all that frenzy, I left my pump at home!!! And the pump is simply a necessity when I have to be away from Kelsie. So I called mom, and thankfully she was able to hop in the car when Kelsie woke up from her morning nap to bring me my pump. It was quite a treat to get to see Kelsie at work though, and show her off to my coworkers. Aside from that, there are also new changes taking place at work and they are cutting back on hours for cost savings, so that had me a little stressed as well. I just had a pit in my stomach all day that I couldn't seem to figure out. Kelsie's CF has been back on my mind and I've just been in deep thought about that lately - thoughts which still threatens to wear me down if I dwell on them for too long.  And to round out the night, my knee just spontaneously went out from under me tonight. I had just given Kelsie a bath and was holding her about to walk into the bedroom when it just buckled causing horrible pain. I couldn't even bear weight on it and can still barely walk. For those of you who may not know, I broke both femurs in a car accident in 2006, have rods in both of them, and have continued to have residual problems with my legs ever since. I had an awful time with them but they have been doing so well for so long!  I am sitting with ice on it as we speak wondering if this will just go away or if it will turn into something worse...

But the day wasn't all bad. Today is my parents' 30th wedding anniversary and since my mom stays here on Tuesday nights, my dad drove up so they could spend the evening together. So we all ended up going to dinner together...and Valerie even drove up to go and is spending the night as well. We had a fun time at dinner and Kelsie did so well and was happy the entire time. She also met a little boy, who, come to find out, was also born on February 25th...at UNC... and was delivered by the same Dr who delivered Kelsie!!! How cool is that!? His name was Mccoy and he and Kelsie just seemed amazed by each other, passing many smiles and sweet looks. It was so cute to watch them interact!

Passing glances at one another...

Snapped too late, but they were smiling and trying to touch each others faces

Weight check

Today we went in for a quick 5 month weight check to make sure Kelsie is still tracking along and gaining weight. She weighed 16lbs 1oz and was 25 1/2 inches long! Whoa, I can't believe she is getting so big! She is still trending along on her growth curve at 75th percentile for weight, 50th percentile for length, and 50th percentile for head circumference. I am just so thrilled that her weight is not just good for a CF baby, but above average for any baby! She is still exclusively breastfed and we are holding off on solids until 6 months. She is doing so well on my breast milk alone (which is apparently pretty high-calorie stuff) and her pulmonologist explained to us that in babies with CF, they often see a drop in their weight gain once starting solids, especially if starting them before 6 months. So I am in no hurry to do that! I plan to make her baby food and soup it up as high-calorie as we can! Get ready Kelsie....butter and whip cream are coming soon!

LOVE HER!

Its 1:00 am and I'm just getting home from a busy night at work but instead of going to bed, I just had to sit down and write. My heart just feels like its going to explode with love for my little girl!!! As I drove up our driveway tonight, I just couldn't help thinking how blessed I am. I looked up at our house and thought, my husband is upstairs asleep and our precious daughter is sleeping in the room down the hall...wow, I am so blessed! And then I walked upstairs and stood next to Kelsie's crib and just couldn't take my eyes off of her for several minutes. Staring at every sweet feature, with a smile on my face, I could just feel my heart bursting at the seams, full of a love I never could have imagined. I love every little thing about her!

Kelsie at the Lake!

We went to the lake over the weekend and took Kelsie on her first boat ride! She LOVED it. It was funny seeing her all bound up in the life jacket but she didn't seem to mind. She even took her nap out on the boat.

She also got in the little baby pool for a bit and had her first wipe out under water! She was sitting up with me supporting her and I moved one hand to do something and she wiggled just enough to slip out of my hands and fall over into the water. Her whole head went under but she didn't care a bit. She looked a little stunned but didn't cry or cough or anything like that. She is definitely a little water bug!

Kisses for mommy

Kelsie gets LOTS of kisses from her mommy and I think she may have learned how to give them back! ;)

5 months old!

Kelsie is 5 months old! 

- She is sitting up by herself for longer periods of time now
- She is rolling over very easily
- Reaches for everything and puts everything straight to her mouth.
- Will take her paci out of your hand and put it in her mouth -  she doesn't always get it in there exactly right, but she knows where it goes. 

- She likes to chew on anything she can get her hands on and her new favorite toy is Sophie, the giraffe which is the greatest chew toy ever!
- She is settling into a routine and is still trying to figure out how to get herself back to sleep when she wakes up during naptime but hopefully she will have that mastered by 6 months!
- She is still sleeping through the night - goes to bed between 8-9 and gets up around 7 am.
- She can hold her bottle and we have even started letting her play with the sippy cup and she can hold it up and drink from it for a short time but still doesn't have the strength to hold it up for long enough to eat. Another goal for 6 months!
- She is still exclusively breastfed and we are waiting until 6 months to start cereal or baby food.
- When she is overtired, she fights sleep like crazy and can really show her determination NOT to sleep.
- When she is well rested, she smiles all the time!
- Is ticklish under her arms and laughs out loud when you hit the right spot. :) 

- Likes to look at herself and mommy in the mirror.
- Gives mommy kisses ... at least I like to believe thats what she is intending to do.

Grandma, the Nanny

I am just so so so grateful that my mom is able to keep Kelsie when I work. I only work two days (Tues/Wed) at the office and then every other weekend at UNC. Mom comes up Tuesday morning before I leave and spends the night here, and then leaves Wednesday when I get back home. She always has dinner cooked both nights and gets me caught up on laundry and housework. I can't even describe how helpful that is! She works so hard all week and rarely even gets a day off to spend at home or do something for herself, yet she is always so willing to come up and help me. Yeah I'm lucky! Kelsie loves spending that time with grandma and I think mom enjoys having Kelsie all to herself for those days as well. I also enjoy getting to spend that extra time with MY mom every week and it reminds me that no matter how old you get, there's still something special about coming home to momma! She will be starting back to work at the school in August and then we will have new nanny!

And we are super excited about this as well...Kelsie's other grandma, "Nana" will be keeping her. Nathan's mom graciously and generously offered to cut back her hours at work to prn (as needed) so that she could stay with Kelsie. This has taken such a burden off of us to know that she will be in such loving and capable hands. And it will also help me out tremendously, because like my mom, she is always SUPER helpful around here. It is so nice that she will be able to keep Kelsie here so that we don't have to worry about packing her up to take her somewhere. And don't have to worry about exposing her to all the germs at daycare! Keeping her healthy is our #1 priority! 

Kelsie and I had a good day! Here are a few highlights!

She started rolling over tummy to back last week and now she can roll back to tummy too!

Mid roll

We also went for a walk outside...

Looking pretty in front of mommy's flowers

She is starting to sit with her feet crossed like that too

It was a little too hot, so when we got back in, I gave Kelsie a little dip in her "pool" with some cool water. She was a little fussy from being hot and tired but as soon as I put her in the water she just started laughing out loud like it felt so good and was exactly what she needed! She is starting to laugh more and more but its even more fun when she laughs spontaneously like that without us trying!

Rough day in Greensboro

Yesterday I took Kelsie to Greensboro to visit my aunt Ana and cousin Katie. She didn't sleep well the night before for some reason and was tired all day because she could never get a full nap in. She would wake up halfway through her nap but wasn't able to go back to sleep and that just made for a very fussy day. Ahh, it was just awful. I have never heard her scream so much. And when she is as tired as she was yesterday, she only wants to be with me so it seems and would scream anytime Ana tried to hold her. :( We did still try to go to the pool as we had planned but it was a short trip and Kelsie only got in for a short time. But she did finally enjoy it a bit after she had a little nap.

Don't let these pictures deceive you, she wasn't this happy for very long!

She slept the whole way home and once again reminded me, she is a baby who demands her sleep and likes to be on schedule!

I can roll over!

Kelsie rolled over from her tummy to her back today!! I had her playing on her tummy and she was getting tired and trying to get out of that position so I just sat back and watched her try to figure it out. Then when I saw that she was about to roll, I grabbed the camera but the battery was dead!! So I hurried and gave it about a 30sec charge, then quickly put the battery back in the camera but right before I pushed the button, she rolled to her back!! She looked a little stunned, like "whoa, how did that happen?" I'm working on shortening the video so I can post it....so check back later.

She is also moving all around in her crib now. At night, I lay her down on one end of the bed and by morning, she ends up on the other side facing the opposite direction.

Daddy opens the gigglebox

I think this sweet moment just made Nathan's heart bust at the seams! This is the first time she has ever laughed like this with her daddy and I'm glad I captured it on video. 

Fashion show

My cousin Katie is a very talented student at SCAD (Savannah College of Art & Design) and for a school project, she designed a fashionable line of infant apparel. With Kelsie as her inspiration, she created a collection of outfits complete with interchangeable headbands, socks, booties, a bib, and paci clip. She also designed the tag using a picture of Kelsie. We were SO impressed by her creativity and talent! And she is just a freshman! It was so much fun dressing Kelsie up in these adorable outfits!

Katie

The babydoll model

And my cutie, the real live model 

Ok mom, I think thats enough pictures

The inspiration for the tag below....

Happy Anniversary!

Nathan and I have been married 6 years today!! And what a wonderful 6 years it has been. We have been through some wonderful times but have also been through some very challenging times. But, I am proud to say that the trials we have faced have only made us stronger. Sure we don't always agree, and we bicker from time to time - but what couple doesn't. What makes us great is that we love each other deeply and unconditionally, and share a great friendship! And now, we also share the most precious gift of all - our precious baby girl. Parenthood is so much fun doing it along side my wonderful husband. Watching the way he adores Kelsie makes me fall in love with him all over again.

Big Kelsie!

  

"Biiig Kelsie" - Thats what Nathan likes to say when she does something "big" like sit or stand up. She gets all smiley and looks so proud of herself. We are so proud of her too, can't you tell! ;) 

Chest PT

Part of Kelsie's CF therapy is to help clear her airway of the sticky mucous settling in her lungs. We do this by "pounding" on her chest and have been doing this twice a day since she was 3 weeks old.  It is vital in keeping her lungs healthy and will be part of her daily maintenance for the rest of her life. When she is bigger, there is a vest that she can wear but for now, we do it manually. It takes a total of 20+ min and has to be done at least an hour after a feeding - otherwise it would likely cause her to throw up. So, finding the time to do it is becoming more and more difficult but its so important that we have to make it priority.We have to pat pretty hard but if she is in a deep sleep, she usually just sleeps right through it.  

If she is awake, TV is the only thing that will keep her still long enough for PT

But most of the time, we do it when she is sound asleep :) Doesn't phase her a bit.

Look at me!!

Kelsie is 4 1/2 months old today and getting close to sitting up on her own. She can now do the tripod sit but is still a little wobbly. Her balance is getting better every day.

So proud of herself! : D

Look what I can do....

Nathan was feeding Kelsie a bottle today and she kept putting her hands around it so he let go and she held on...feeding herself! She did it several times but of course it only lasted maybe 10 seconds - still impressive for a 4 month old. She is becoming a strong little booger! :)

Happy 4th!

I have to say that staying home on the 4th of July has never felt so good! Nathan was off today so he, Kelsie, and I just hung out around here all day and didn't do much of anything - so nice! Now, I have always been all about going somewhere on the 4th - the lake, cookouts, spending time with family, enjoying the sun and water...but with a 4 month old, all of that is more difficult than its worth. However, I say that after I tested the limits this weekend. We had a get together at our house on Saturday and then went to the annual family cookout at my uncle's house yesterday. Perhaps it all just fell at a bad time considering the week Kelsie has had, but she was just SO fussy. Monday she had the PFTs with sedation, then I worked on Tues/Wed, and Thursday she received her 4 month vaccinations. Then Friday/Sat her eyes starting looking bad as though she may have a little conjunctivitis. Add all that together and throw in the missed sleep from the 4th of July festivities and you have a very unhappy baby! I have NEVER seen her as upset as she was this weekend and needless to say, it really took its toll on me too. I was really looking forward to visiting with family and friends and letting them all play with Kelsie, but both days, she was in rare form - so instead, I spent much of the time trying to console her and get her to sleep. I didn't care about that so much though - I was just worried about my baby and trying to figure out how to help her. It can be such a helpless feeling! Yesterday, I realized she had been in 5 houses in one day - ours, my aunt/uncle's, Nathan's parent's, Nathan's grandparent's, and my parent's! All in ONE day. TOO much! At one point yesterday, we were driving and she was screaming like she has never screamed before, so we pulled over and I just nursed her there in the parking lot - no enzymes or anything. It wasn't time for her to eat but it calmed her down - I have never had to do that before!  (She still got the meds but just nursed long enough to calm down). I ended up feeding her 2 more times within the next 4 hours. Its possible she was going through a bit of growth spurt but I think the fussiness was more likely coming from the vaccines and just being so overtired that she couldn't settle down. On the plus side, she is still sleeping 11 hours at night and doesn't cry at all!! :) :) :) Last night, she finally fell asleep at my parents house 9:30p (which was way too late for her) and woke up at 8:30 this morning. I usually feed her at 7am, but today I just let her sleep until she was ready since she had went to bed so late. Today, she fought sleep for an hour, but again, I nursed her and she fell asleep and slept for almost 3 hours! I think she was catching up on lost sleep!! She was MUCH better this evening and back to her usual self. Hopefully she will do well for my mom tomorrow!


Here are some pictures from the weekend - once Kelsie finally settled down and went to sleep on Saturday, I had a good time goofing off with the family! But was sad that I didn't get to visit with the Atwaters as much as I would have liked.

Dad felt left out

Posing on our front steps...

We can be a little goofy sometimes  :)

The cake I had made for Drew's birthday, he's a big fan of The Office

 

Relaxing in the hot tub

On the way to the cookout on Sunday- Kelsie in her patriotic outfit