1 month

Today the littlest member of our family is 1 month old! I can't believe that we've been a family of 4 for a month, now...but, it is true, we have and it has been loads of fun! (with a little bit of stress and craziness thrown in there) :)

Here is what Jackson can do now that he's a whole month old:

He can hold his head up, just a little but it's definitely an improvement over the rubberneck new baby look

He smiled at me for the first time, yesterday

He's waking up only 1 time a night

He has really taken to the schedule I have him on and almost always wakes himself up to eat now, instead of me having to wake him all the time

He's looking less yellow...I'd say everything looks pretty normal, except for his eyes, they're still really yellow

He's outgroing his newborn clothes, but can't quite fit into his 0-3 month clothes, yet

I'm thinking he's close to 8lbs...he was 7lbs. 12oz. last week at our appointment and we have another one tomorrow, so we'll know for sure what he weighs and what his height is

He loves his tummy time and can hold his head up and move his head from side to side while on his tummy

apple-picking

Today Hailey, Jackon and I went apple picking with our baby buddies group from church and it was a blast. It was a little chillier than we were hoping for, but it was a fun day, nonetheless!! Last year Hailey couldn't walk, so it was definitely more fun with her this year and Jackson was a dream baby- spending the whole time sleeping in the sling and a few differen't mom's arms.

Hailey riding in the cart with Jayda, while my friend, Erica, pulled them! It was pretty rough terrain, so I'd say I got off pretty easy thanks to her! :)
Ellianna, looking super cute in her little jean jacket- isn't she just a doll??

she spent at least 5 minutes trying to get this apple off of the tree...soo cute!

"sharing"

"ummm...yummy apple"

While all the rest of the kids were still running around, picking apples, Hailey took a little break and sat in the wagon, eating her fruit snacks and milk

the whole gang

my beautiful friend, Amanda, and her adorable little girl, Elli

Elli, Jayda, and Hailey looking super small in the big chair!

petting the goats

It was such a great day and the best part of it was that I felt comfortable as the mom of two little kids! Hope that part wasn't a fluke!! :)

battle plans

Today a friend gave me some great advice...advice about picking your battles...advice that I was sorely in need of! I think that Hailey has finally realized that Jackson is here to stay- for good, and I'm not sure she's happy about it! And, no matter how I spin it or twist it...she has been a bear and super naughty this week and it is wearing me out!! I know that it is hard to believe that any girl with a face this sweet could ever give her mommy any problems, but you'll just have to try and use your imagination! ;)

So, I was chatting with a friend of mine and sharing with her how wore out I was and how dissapointed I was in myself, because sometimes I feel so tired and exhausted that I give in to her and just give her whatever makes her happy and/or keeps her whining to a minimum! I know that this is wrong and I know that you need to keep consistent with your parenting, but I never realized how hard that would be! Everything about parenting seems so easy, until you're actually a parent! :)

But, thanks, to my friend, I feel like I can get Hailey up from her nap- encouraged and armed with a new outlook and a new "battle plan" with how to deal with my beloved oldest child! I'm going to be picking my battles- choosing one or two things to focus on during the day and just letting the other things slide for now! I need to keep my focus on what's important- instilling a love for the Lord in my children's hearts and off of what's not important- making sure that Hailey's life is easy and completely free of any hardship! :)

So, I'm going to throw my hands up like my son and surrender to the Lord for strength- since I have none of my own left to even focus on one or two things to "battle"!! And, beg Him for wisdom, because only with His wisdom will I be able to figure out what are the important things and how to focus on them and what isn't as important, right now, and how to let them go!

life as a second child...

is a little different than life as a first child! (and I should know...I'm a second born) ;)

for one thing- the second child gets "carried" a little more often, but it's not always in mommy's arms- sometimes it's in a sling!! (good thing Jackson likes the sling, 'cause he spends at least a little bit of time each day in it)

for another thing...wearing a little brother shirt makes you even more adorable!

wouldn't you agree??!!

for another thing...you have to use all your charm to get anyone to pay attention to you...can you see his sweet little smile??

for another thing...you pretty much take whatever attention you can get...even if it's from your big sister and she's suffocating you while trying to cover you up with another blanket!

and the biggest thing about life as a second child is that you will always live in your big sister's shadow! Good thing for Jackson his big sister loves him a lot- almost too much!! :)

feeling good!

Today Hailey, Jackson and I made the journey to bible study at church...and...it was amazing!! I came home energized and Hailey came home and played very nicely with all of her toys...amazing, huh?! I don't know what was better- getting out of the house, spending some time in the Word, getting together with other "mommy" friends, or Hailey getting to burn off some energy somewhere else, but it was such a great time away from the house! I don't think I'd want to do it everyday, but it was a great change in our routine! :) Plus, it was so fun to show off Jackson to all of my friends. It's always fun to have someone else gush over the baby that you think is so absolutely wonderful!

Thank you, Lord, for pushing me out of my "zone" and making me get up and get out of the house!

the real story...

It's easy to put your best "face" forward for just a few minutes when you have company over...but, it's a whole different story when real life hits! So, here are some pics of the "real" Konietzki family these days...
don't we all look happy and like we love each other?? (ok, except for Hailey...she definitey looks unhappy)

here's the real Konietzki story...we're definitely adjusting, but it's taking some time for everyone to figure out how they fit in these new family dynamics!
Don't I look like a good mommy here, who loves both of her sweet little children?? (ok, so once again, Hailey does look rather cranky here...)
well, here's the real story...Hailey has been throwing fits, I've been struggling with learning how to balance taking care of two little kiddos and Jackson's not the sweet little baby that we brought home...he's definitely demanding more time and attention these days- now that he's figured out how much he likes to eat! :)

Now you all know the real story of the Konietzki house! :) Good thing for us God planned this great blessing for our family and we know that He will see us through and that He has already given us the tools we need to make it through and not just survive, but thrive and honor Him with our family!!

"Not that we are adequte in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves, but our adequacy is from God" 2Corinthians 3:5

my little man

I am sooooo loving being the mommy of a sweet little boy! I was so worried when he was born that I'd never be able to love him as much as Hailey, but I was worried for no reason...I LOVE this little guy more than anything else in the whole world- just like I LOVE his sister! His sweet little personality definitely helps...I've never met a baby who is sweet and more wonderful than Jackson. He rarely, if ever cries, and never cries for no reason! How could you not love a little man like that?! :)

aren't these photos of our little "dino" man cute??
He hasn't been very awake, lately, because he has jaundice and that makes him very sleepy! It is nice at night, but makes me a little nervous during the day when I can barely make him stay awake long enough to eat! But...he has been doing a TON better, so we're all thankful for that!

today we had to take him in to the hospital to get his blood drawn (to check his billirubin levels, again) and his weight checked. It was rather nerve wracking and I was pretty frustrated that we had to get his poor little foot pricked again, but it turned out to be a great thing, because the nurse/lactation lady told us that she thinks his high levels of billirubin are due to breastfeeding jaundice- which is not as serious as the jaundice that babies get when they are under a week old.

So, I'm feeling a lot better about it all and the only thing we have to do is keep an eye on him and if he gets worse or stops waking up as much or turns more orange then we may have to stop nursing for a week or two, but I'm thinking that it should just fix itself in the next 6 weeks or so! He'll just look a little tan until then! :)

And, we'll just have to keep him in the sunlight as much as possible and feed him as much as he wants to try and not let him get any worse! (and, as long as it lasts I'm just going to be thankful that he sleeps a lot at night...) ;)

Thankfulness!

I have a lot to be thankful for these days! It's so easy in the in's and out's of daily life to forget that...and it's especially easy to forget that when you're up in the middle of the night nursing, you're up late at night rocking your baby, and you're busy from sun up to sun down chasing after, diapering, feeding, and cleaning up after two babies! But, today I was really convicted about how I need to take some time to focus on what's the "big deal" in my life! And, it's not making sure that all the toys are picked up in the living room or that we eat real food for dinner or that Hailey doesn't have a melt down- or even that I don't...it's keeping my focus on Jesus Christ. And for me, one of the best ways to do that is to remind myself of what I have to be thankful for, instead of focusing on what seems to be out of control! So, here are a few things that I'm thankful for today...

Jackson was able to be done with the billirubin blanket, so we were able to go outside and play this afternoon and then take a little walk when Daddy got home! Sunshine just makes a world of difference in your outlook on life! :)

My Mom came up to help us out today and I'm not sure how we would have made it through the day without her...she was a huge encouragement to me and she let Hailey hold Jackson for the first time! Hailey is a great big sister- here she is trying to share her grapes with him! I'm just so thankful that she doesn't hate him or try to hurt him- she looks out for him, shows concern when he cries, wakes up looking for him, and brings him all the toys, blankets, burp clothes, and clothes that he could ever need!

Hailey is so helpful- or at least tries to be and it just brings joy to my heart to see her care for her brother and try to "help" me out. She even tried to carry his diaper bag out to the van yesterday and it was the sweetest little gesture that it made me cry!

And, last, but not least, I'm thankful that as busy as I've been and as distracted with the baby that I've been Hailey has only this black eye to show for it...it may look rough, but if you were able to see how crazy, wild, and adventurous she's been the last few days you'd be thankful, right along with me, that all she has is a black eye to show for it! (she did take a nice tumble down the back steps, this afternoon, but thankfully, no more bruises showed up as a result)

The last few days (since Korey went back to work) have probably been some of the most trying days of my life, but I'm so thankful for each one of these little "triumphs" and I'm especially thankful that I have a God who understands kids, understands being overwhelmed and can sympathize with my exhausted spirit! I know that these two babies are a gift and a blessing from Him and for that I will always be thankful!

bathtime fun

Today we gave Jackson his first bath at home!! (I guess you know you're the 2nd child when you get your second bath when you're 6 days old...) ;)

Hailey and Allie really wanted to help me.

Isn't Hailey cute standing up there on her little stool??

Isn't he a doll???

(don't tell, but none of us got dressed before the baby got a bath this morning...)

Jackson didn't really enjoy his bath, but he didn't even really cry too much- he's such a mellow baby!

Hailey was very interested in what was going on and kept us giggling the whole time!!

it breaks a mommy's heart...

when there's anything wrong with her children! No matter how small it is or how big- it's just hard to know that your kids aren't healthy!

...and it has been hard to see my little guy have to be hooked up to a billirubin blanket for the last few days! (and especially hard to see him get his heel pricked so many times in a week...) I know that it's not as big of a "deal" as some horrible, awful disease or something that he will struggle with for the rest of his life, but it's hard to watch him have to deal with anything when he's so little and so defenseless. Not to mention that it's hard when you can't just carry him from room to room, or put him in the sling and carry him around- or take him outside!
Thank the Lord, though, that Jackson is doing well on his blanket and with his incredibly rigorous nursing schedule. His billy count went down from 16 to 15.7 and he gained 2 ounces- in one day!! I was ellated to hear that good news from the nurse, but the best news was...we didn't have to wake him up to nurse every 2 1/2 hours last night. I really needed some good sleep. (we did end up waking him up once last night, because he slept for over 5 hours and that made me a little nervous) God also blessed us with a very sunny morning and we were able to put him in the blanket and then put him in the sunshine, so hopefully that will be even better! Tomorrow the nurse comes back to do another test and to weigh him again and we're really hoping and praying for good news, again!
If it breaks a mommy's heart to see her baby not doing well, it definitely does her heart good to see that he is improving! And, my heart is doing well, today!! :)

A Family of Four

It doesn't really feel like reality that we are a family of four yet...but, it sure has been a great last few days!
Hailey has really warmed up to her brother and she just loves to run in our bedroom yelling (and yes, I really mean yelling) "baby" and pointing to his cradle! :) It makes us giggle and Jackson doesn't seem to mind- he just sleeps through it.

Korey hasn't been able to spend a ton of time with his son since we've gotten home, because he's been so busy taking care of the house, the dog, Hailey, and me...but, he's snuggling with him now and doing some bonding over the Packer game! And...Jackson is awake and "watching" it with him...which is very strange- he hasn't been awake much in the last day or two, which is nice, but it makes me nervous thinking about how he's gonna do tonight...

I think I've probably had the hardest time adjusting to being a Mom of two more than anyone else...Hailey doesn't seem bothered with sharing our attention, Korey just stepped into his role of "caretaker" and has done a great job of taking care of us all, and Jackson has been a dream baby, but for some reason I have been lagging a little behind. I love being a momma and I love my new little man, but it just hasn't been the seamless transition that I sort of thought it would be. Maybe it is the baby blues...maybe it is sleep deprivation...maybe it's just me...but, for whatever reason I'm struggling a little with it! I think it may just take me some time to get used to "sharing" myself with my kids! But, for now, I'm just trying to enjoy my new family of four status! It is rather fun to think that we're now a family of four! Crazy and weird, but definitely fun!! :)