New Years Eve

It is almost the year 2009....Crazy! This means that I will be another year older, Keila will turn 1, Jared will finish his first year of teaching, Mothers and Fathers day will mean we are apart of it with Keila and not just with our parents, and who knows what else??!! When I was younger, I remember thinking/dreaming about when I would be older. It seemed so far away. When we talked about the years that would start out with 20 instead of 19, they seemed like a distant future and we thought things would be so different. Little did we know that most things would stay the same or just get a little mnore advanced. It just seems like every new year reminds me of how everything goes by so fast. The year 2008 brought so many changes to our lives...the best being Keila!

Keila, by the way, is doing really well. She is figuring out she has thumbs...I have to constantly take her little hands away from her mouth! She is a good kicker and likes to play on her mat thing...she kicks the bars and it makes the music and lights go off. She loves it, and is always smiling. She is recognizing faces, probably just Jared's and mine the most right now. She smiles when she sees us...it makes me smile back and makes me feel so wonderful. I keep trying to show her things with her hands, but she really doesn't reach for anything yet. I know that will come soon enough!

Being a mom is so awesome!

This reminds me of the Christmas Story movie...hilarious!


Uncle Aaron and Keila


Our Winter Wonderland in December...it snowed so much!


Keila...she might hate me later for having her wear the hat, but luckily I can say I didn't buy it for her.


Me and Paislie!! She only sat still with me because she's wearing her 'bad girl' collar. Haha


The Mlynczyk Cousins


Keila on Christmas Eve


Papa and Keila on Christmas


Keila on Christmas in her new Bumbo seat

Holy Moly

Keila is 12 weeks old! She is getting so big! I need to scan her pictures from when I got them taken and put them on here...they are so cute:) She is sleeping a lot at night and during some days, and she does really well when she is awake. The only thing I can think of that she is doing new is smacking her lips. She does that once in a while and it is really cute sounding.

It has done nothing but snow and rain and then freeze for the past week....how old and lame-o is that? Jared did a lot of fundraising with his homeroom class and another teacher and her class for the local giving tree. They had to cancel the trip for the kids to go buy gifts...so that meant we had to go buy stuff today. While we were in Walmart (for about 2 hrs) it snowed 2-3 inches! It wasn't snowing when we got there though...!!! So we bought 23 kids christmas gifts. It was a lot of fun picking out different things we thought they would like.

10.5 Weeks

Keila is getting so big! She had her 2 month appointment last week and got a couple of shots...she didn't like those very well. She was measured at 22 3/4 inches long and 12 lbs 12 oz. So, that puts her in the 90th percentile for her age-weight-length ratio. Big Girl!! Her head circumference is in the 50-55th percentile. I had her pictures taken a couple of weeks ago and they are ready today! I am sending out christmas cards today as well.

The basketball team I am coaching is doing well. They have won all of their games so far and are conitnuing to get better. I am really glad that I am able to help out and get to know new people where we live. It will also look good on a resume if I ever try to get a head coaching job somewhere! I can't wait until I am ready to have my own team. The athletic director is asking me if I want to apply for the JV volleyball coaching position...I don't really want to do it though. It is something that I need to pray about and think hard about. Coaching basketball and coaching volleyball are 2 very different things. Volleyball is so technical and difficult to coach! Plus, it has changed a tiny bit since I have played on a competitive team. But it would help to have the income that I would make. A LOT to think about!

Overdue and New Pictures!

Here are some pictures from the past couple of weeks and Keila's dedication!

Jared fell asleep with Keila and Paislie was lying down with them, how cute!


Jared got a hold of the camera when I was at basketball practice...I married a goofy fella


Working on holding her head up


It was hard work, so we turned her over


It's Paislie!!!!


Jessica and Keila


Smiles




She noticed I was holding the camera...she usually wont smile for me if she sees the camera because she starts to focus on that and gets a confused look...haha!


Keila and Grandma Mlynczyk


Jared's Parents


Me and Keila


(In order) Papa(my dad), Me and Keila, Jared, Grandma and Grandpa(Jared's parents)


Jared and Keila


Me and Keila again

Baby Dedication

Today we had Keila dedicated at church. Jared's parents and my dad came to 'participate'. It is weird to think that I was dedicated 23 years ago...almost to the day (I was dedicted on December 1st I believe). I still have the little gown that my parents got for me to wear when I was dedicated, so I had it dry cleaned and had Keila wear it. I was afraid that it wouldn't work to have it cleaned because it was yellowed with age. Luckily, the dry cleaning got it looking almost brand new! It is special to pass on something to her, even if it something little like this. I will have to upload and put my pictures on here tomorrow. I don't have enough time tonight!

I am so excited for thanksgiving this week! Yummy food and visiting with family! Who could ask for anything more?

Tired!

This has been a busy week! I am helping to coach girls varsity basketball. This week try-outs started and it has been a busy week. Jared is also coaching...the freshman/JV 2 team. So, Keila went to practice one day (she slept the whole time! WooHoo!) Then we were able to have someone watch her two of the other days. We wont really need someone to watch Keila because Jared's team practices at a different time than varsity. So one of us will always be able to be with her at home. I wouldn't have minded someone watching her though...that way she would get to know other people and be able to be happy with people other than just me. I also like that Jared will be spending more time with her. That way they can bond more! I am planning on taking her with me to games, that way we don't have to find a sitter for those days. I think it will be okay bringing her to games because I can take care of her if needed, but the girls who aren't playing (JV players) can always sit close and keep an eye on her for me.

That's what's going on in my life! What's going on in yours??!!

Bottle...fuuuun

So I didn't know that I should introduce a bottle to Keila so early. I was told this past week...and read somewhere...that you should introduce a bottle between 2-6 weeks for them to get used to. I guess after that it is harder to get them to take a bottle. I bought these really cool Adiri brand bottles that we tried for a couple days, but I don't think she opens her mouth wide enough to get that milk right. It ends up spilling out more that going into her mouth. If I would've given it to her earlier, she might've had a better time. So I had a Playtex Vent-air bottle that we gave her tonight, and she did a much better job and ate almost 4 oz, but I think it might've been a little too much because after Jared burped her, she spit up...lol. So I think we will be okay with bottles, but they need to have the conventional mouth/nipple because she doesn't open her mouth very wide. She took the bottle a lot easier tonight and is getting used to it.

That is what we have been going through this past week...so much fun!!

Halloween

Keila had a lot of fun on Halloween...She slept and ate all day!! Here are some pics wearing her trick or treat shirt and her halloween costume! We went to the Church part with a friend and her daughters, and everyone was just loving Keila and how cute she looked!



So Sad...she was HUNGRY!!


Paislie can't seem to leaver her alone when she is in the swing...argh!!! So inbetween sniffing her, she would lay down in front as if she were protecting her.



Me and Keila...There were better pics of us, but Jared cut half of my head off...


Lady Bug/Love Bug



I didn't do it; I didn't steal that candy!!! It was Daddy!


BOO!! Did I scare you?!

After a bath

Keila looked so cute after her bath the other day, I just had to take pictures! Her towel was perfectly place on her head...actually I put her down, she moved, and when I looked at her it was like this. She usually is kinda fussy after her bath because she is cold. This day she was calm and content the whole time...during and after her bath!

One month

Craziness! Keila is doing so good. She is growing so much everyday. And, everyday she seems to be awake more or a little more fussy. Dang! I kind of like the whole eat, sleep, change diaper, eat, sleep, and so on. She is starting to make more noises though, so that is cute. I think I ate something she didn't like yesterday because this morning she spit up a whole bunch. Well, it was either that or the fact that she didn't burp very much. I still need to go to the store and buy some gas drops...I think that would help her because she is sooo gassy! She gets it from Jared!

I am ready to excerise and get back into shape. I got a lot of gift cards for my birthday to go shopping for new clothes, and I really want to go use them! I think I will take Keila for a walk today. It is really nice outside and would be fun!

3 Weeks old

Time is going by pretty fast. It seems weird that only 3 weeks ago I gave birth. My body is healing from everything that happened, and I want to start working out a little bit. I think I should look up if I really need to wait a little longer, or if I can do simple exercises right now. Keila is trying to stay awake a little more during the day. Well, she is waking up more and wanting to eat more. I am guessing she wants to eat more because she is going through a growth spurt. I hope that's why anyway! I often wonder if I am producing enough milk for her, but then it seems as if my wonders are answered and I feel like I couldn't produce any more or I could explode. I think I am going to start trying to pump to have a supply for when we need a babysitter or so Jared could feed her. I don't know when I should try pumping though. That's another thing I should look up. If anyone has any tips or suggestions, please let me know everything! Also, I should probably get some sort of book/manual about babies!! lol. I am wondering when I should start doing things and what is normal for babies and things like that.

Life is wonderful

So Keila is just awesome! I love being able to look at her and hold her and think about her. Anything, really. She is just amazing! I love watching her when she's waking up or falling asleep and trying to get comfortable because she makes really cute facial expressions. The only thing I am not likely is all the grunting she does. Maybe she has a lot of gas. We see the pediatrician tomorrow, so I will ask about it. She seems to grunt or try to push something out all day. But the good thing is she really doesn't cry that much. Instead of crying to be fed or changed she grunts or makes other kinds of noises. She cries when she gets a bath and if I don't feed her fast enough...haha.

The past couple of nights she has slept for 4 hours in a row! It feels nice to get 4 hours of sleep without interruption! But then instead of sleeping for another 4 hours, she just sleeps for 2-3 hours. Still good though! She is a really good baby:) I just wish I had a really good dog!

Paislie is being good with Keila, but wants more attention. She is always really curious when I am holding Keila and comes to sniff her and give her little kisses. It is cute, but mostly annoying because she doesn't know when to stop getting in Keila's face.

Doing good

We are doing good:) Keila is so amazing, and I love just holding her and watching her. She makes really cute faces that make me laugh. Jared and I have received such a great gift from God!

In other news, I have had a suspicion that Keila is actually longer than what the nurse said after she was born. The newborn clothes that she wears aren't that much longer than she is...and they fit up to 21.5 inches. So last night I finally got out the tape measure that they gave me from the hospital, and laid it down on her changing pad. Then I laid her on it and stretched out her leg...it went all the way to 20.5 inches! I think this sound much more like what she really is. When we went to her Dr appointment last week, I should've had them measure her but I forgot to ask. So, for whatever it matters, she is 20.5 inches long.

Here's some more pics!!!

Keila fell asleep on Jared


Dreaming up something sweet


Getting ready for a bath


My sweet baby


No more pictures mom!


So Cute


Mmmmm....Hand


Cutie pie with a head band


I think she was ending a yawn...


Aren't we done??!!


Oh, and Jared wanted me to add that he's a great husband...haha.

La Dee Da

So everything is going well. I have found out that post partum emotions suck. I spent Sunday and Monday afternoon/evening crying over silly things. My mom stayed with us from Tuesday to Saturday and it was hard to see her go. It sucks that she is not near if I need any help. It was also nice to have her here with me while Jared was at school and football stuff. Now I am home alone all day until Jared is finished with everything. It gets my mind thinking about things and getting emotional over them! Well, that and Paislie does dumb stuff that makes me get overly emotional too.

Having Keila here is amazing and great, but umm she doesn't do anything yet, so I am getting kind of bored. I mean, I was home alone before she was here, but I was able to go where I wanted and do what I wanted...even though I mostly stayed home. I watch a lot of t.v. and get on the computer. I clean up here and there, but get kind of tired easily. Yesterday I think I over exerted myself and I got crampy and didn't feel the greatest. It wasn't at all bad, but thought I should rest for awhile after. My dad is coming this weekend so that will be a lot of fun! I think he is driving up after work on Friday and most likely staying until Sunday, but I am not sure. If anyone else wants to come and visit, just give me a call!

Keila's Stats

I guess I forgot to tell you Keila's stats! She was born Monday night (September 29th...2 days before my due date) at 10:40pm. She was pretty little...for my family that is! She was only 19.5 inches long and 7 lbs 3 oz. I think I heard them say her head was 13.5 inches. She has huge hands and long feet...that's from me! She looks like Jared, but we are starting to see more of me in there too. I am loving every minute of her!

Keila Jo - My Natural Child Birth Story

So I have some time...trying to spread it out when it comes to computer stuff. I will tell you about Keila! I was contracting on Sunday the 28th about 8 minutes apart for most of the day, but not all of them were horrible...so Jared was on a serious stand-by. At 3:30 am Monday morning, I woke up with hard contractions that wouldn't let me sleep. So after an hour I thought I would start to time them. At 5:00am I decided to time them but also write down everything...how long they lasted and how far apart they were. At 5:30 I told Jared that he needed to come down and that we needed to go to the hospital because they were mostly 3 minutes apart and lasting at least a minute. I also told Caylan my doula friend who was going to help during labor and delivery...it was definitely the real thing this time!

So we all got to the hospital around 8:00am (my dad drove me to the hospital so Jared could just meet me at the hospital). They put me in a triage room to check my contractions and see if I was dilating...I was...3cm! So they went ahead and admitted me and sent me over to a labor and delivery room. I talked with Caylan and we decided to go ahead and try different things to help labor and dilating along. The nurse came back a couple hours later and I was dilated to 4 cm! It was nice to hear that I was progressing! I did have a few visitors...my mom stayed in my room and visited until my water broke and Jared's parent came and went a few times until we didn't allow visitors. Jared and I went for some walks around the floor and I went in the jacuzzi tub once and sat on the birthing ball...all to help dilate more. It was working, and I was dilating a cm every couple of hours...the nurse came about avery 2 hours to check progression. So when I hit 6 cm, I had bulging waters and so we decided that I should try a different position to help my water break...it worked not long after she checked me! She came in to check the baby's heart rate really fast and my water broke when she was doing it. It felt really weird!!! So that is when we kicked my mom out of the room and put a 'no visitors' sign on the door. I felt bad when I heard that more people were outside in the waiting area. A few people poked their heads in to say hello, but it seemed like everytime someone did that I was having a contraction and couldn't say hello.

I have to say I think contractions got worse after my water broke, but my dilation slowed a but. After a little while they checked me and I was around 7-8 cm, but I stayed at 7-8 for probably 4 hours. It was getting really frustrating and hard. I was tired and in a lot of pain. I decided to get back into the jacuzzi tub, even though the first time I was in there didn't seem that relaxing. It helped to slow down the contractions a little bit and I actually was dozing off in between contractions...waking up with every one though. I was told to go in for only 15 minutes or so, but I was probably in there for longer because it was as relaxing as it could get at the time. I was also feeling a bit more pressure, so I though I was probably progressing. By the time I got out of the tub, it was time to be checked again, but alas, I was stil 7-8cm. The nurse asked if I wanted any pain meds or an epidural, but I said no. So I stood up and decided to stand and squat and do those things during contractions. So while the nurse was doing paperwork, I was contracting while standing and Jared was holding me...I felt a LOT more pressure and a good urge to push a little. So I got back on the bed to be checked again and the nurse said I had just a little bit left to go (I think she said just a lip of my cervix was left). I was so happy that things decided to kick into gear so I could be done!

At this point, contractions were painful and I had a lot of pressure and I was tired! I knew the Doctor was at the other hospital, but I didn't care and would continue to try and get her to come out in whatever way was necessary. I could hear nurses talking to each other, trying to figure out who would be able to make it to the hospital to deliver. The on-call Dr was at the other hospital delivering a baby there at that time, so I think they called the Dr who was on call earlier in the day, but she was too far away. So as I am getting into positions to push and getting myself ready, a Dr finally comes in the room. Someone who happened to be at the hospital but wasn't on call...not sure how it worked exactly. I just know she was there! Caylan and Jared were being very supportive and I remember Caylan reminding me of how to position my body. It didn't feel like it was that long, but Jared thought I pushed for about 30 minutes. It is weird to think back and remember what everything felt like in the last bits of labor. When it was time to push, the contractions didn't hurt but just gave the urge to push. Now, getting her out hurt! I remember thinking, and sometimes still thinking, why do people do this more than once!?? Haha, but thinking back on it right now, the pain isn't horrible, it doesn't last long, and the recovery isn't bad either. I did tear a little bit, so I have stitches, but I didn't feel it happen and it wont take long to recover.

I have a beautiful daughter to show for it. I am tired from not getting long bouts of sleep, but doing great with her in my arms!

Oh, I weighed myself today. I am within 5lbs of pre-pregnancy weight, so it shouldn't be too hard to get back to looking like I did pre-pregnancy! Yeah for that! Oh, and if you are wondering how to pronounce her name...pronounce the 'I'...so broken down K-eye-la. We probably gave her more hassles with the way we spelt it, but it looks cuter than other ways :)

Me at 3cm...still able to smile for the camera :)


Me very very close to the end...


Jared helping me squat through a contraction


She's out!!




Next day at the hospital




At home










First bath at home