5 months!

Jackson has been around our house for 5 months, now!!

Can you believe it??! I can't!!

Here's what he's up to:

he weighs 12 lbs. 12 oz., more than 6lbs. higher than his birthweight

he's 29 inches tall, more than 10 inches longer than he was when he was born

he had his first taste of rice cereal

he smiles and giggles and laughs at his sister

he plays with toys- grabbing at them and actually getting them

he rolls from his back to his front and from his front to his back

he's wearing 3-6 month clothes- he just went through a huge growth spurt in the last few days!!

the best part about this little guy is that he's sooo incredibly smiley!

He just smiles and giggles at everyone and everything!

His favorite, though, is his sister. Anytime she comes near him he just lights up!

I love you, baby Jack! You light up my life!

feeding the baby!

Jackson got to try some cereal the other day and Hailey really wanted to help! She did a great job and he did, too. He's not a huge fan of it, but what kid is?! I think it'll grow on him as he eats more and more of it! :) We're gonna keep practicing, too, 'cause he seems to be going through a growth spurt and mommy just can't keep up.

I just love these kids! They make me giggle and smile- there's no bad day that looking at my sweet babies can't cure!! :)

sick day!

Hailey's been a little "under the weather" still today, so I let her take her nuk and blankie out of her bed- everybody needs a little extra comfort when they're sick, don't you think?!

apparently sitting in the baby's swing and swinging yourself, while listening to some very comforting rainforest music is very comforting, too! I think she spent about 1/2 hour sitting in here this morning while I tried to tidy up the kitchen and living room!

After that, though, she got a little more chatty and adventurous!! I think it was maybe that the medicine was finally kicking in, but whatever the reason, I'm so glad that she started feeling better!

Isn't she cute all dressed up in her dress up clothes- do you see the cute little crown on her head and my black dress shoe on her foot and that she's talking on the cellphone?! She really wanted to chat on the phone today, so we called her Nani and she sat at her table, eating frozen blueberries and chatting with Nani for a few minutes! :)

Her hair is so wild, today, but I just don't have the ambition to fight her and put it up in something today.

I think my little girl is on the mend- she's been napping for about 3 hours, with only a little wake up in the middle for some snuggle-time with her Papa, so I'm hoping that she only gets better and better as she gets more of the medicine in her!

there are some days...

were I just feel like an awful mommy! And today is one of those days. Last night Hailey was up a few times crying and at one point I kissed her forehead and realized that it was really hot, so I gave her some tylenol. I didn't check what the temp was at the time, but I knew it was high, 'cause she was sweating!! But, this morning she was still a little whiny, but not super hot and it didn't seem like she was too sick, so I decided to go ahead with our plans and head to Appleton shopping with a friend. I thought maybe she was coming down with a cold or something like that...definitely not anything super serious. Boy was I wrong!! She was such a trooper- considering how sick she felt, but she did NOT have a good time shopping in Appleton today. She just wanted to sit in my lap or be carried by me, not play on the toys, not ride in the stroller, not eat her food or even the cookie I bought for her. It was so sad! :( Everytime someone, other than me, would touch her she would just cry and cry and cry. I even found myself getting upset with her, because she was just being so whiny. Little did I know that she had a very good reason to be whiny and she was actually being a lot more of a toughie than I gave her credit for. Korey knew the minute we got home that there was something wrong with her- he pulled her out of the car and into the house and her legs were just shaking...she was burning up with a fever...she had a blotchy rash on her legs...her hands and feet were swollen and she just cuddled in. She didn't even want her Papa to hold her, she just wanted me. (and that is very serious, because she LOVES her Papa and often she'll pick him over me-given the choice) When we took her temperature it was 102.4, under her arm and when I called the nurse she told us to take Hailey to the walk in clinic ASAP! oops...I don't think I've ever wanted to cry or felt so bad in my entire life. It turned out that Hailey has strep throat and it's nothing serious, but it was definitely enough to make this momma feel pretty guilty. The poor thing had been struggling with this high fever all day long and I had just dragged her around the Fox River Mall like it was nothing. All she wanted was some snuggle time and to sit on her mommy's lap, but instead she had to travel all around the mall. Poor little peanut. I know that a mom can't always know everything, but I definitely should have known she was too sick to go shopping...and I feel so guilty for not! I'm so looking forward tomorrow, though, so I can make it up to her and get in plenty of snuggle time on the couch!! :) One thing that this day definitely makes me thankful for is that God does grant us forgiveness when we screw up and that Hailey won't ever remember her mommy taking her shopping when she was sick!

we're redecorating!

Hailey's creative genius is at work, again!

I washed off the table and threw the dishcloth into the sink and it landed on the door knob, instead of picking it up I just left it there and apparently Hailey assumed that's how we were gonna decorate from now on, 'cause she proceeded to take the rest of my washcloths out and decorate all the other knobs in the kitchen with them! :)

It's times like these that really make me love my little girl! she's so cute!! :)

a LOT has changed!

Yes, a lot has changed at our house in the 5 months since Jackson has been here!

I don't know if it's just that he's been here for 5 months and my hormones are finally settling down, if Hailey's just that much bigger, or if it's just the fact that Jackson sleeps through the night, now. But, whatever the reason the Konietzki household is NOTHING like it was before! In fact, it's a rare week when we even have one meltdown from Hailey and Mommy hasn't had one since Christmas! Hailey never tries to push Jackson off of my lap or gets angry when I sit down to feed him- in fact, she loves to sit down with me and nurse her baby at the same time. There are times when I even find her sneaking her way into his room while he's supposed to be sleeping and handing (aka throwing) toys into his bed! :) We all have been having a great time, lately, playing and enjoying each other. Jackson is giggling, now, and Hailey loves to make funny faces and cooing noises at him and get him to giggle with her! It truly does a mommy's heart good to see her babies enjoy each other. There truly is nothing better than hearing those giggles come from each of them as they play together!

I don't know what has changed with me, but I have been feeling a lot better. Life really hasn't gotten that much easier- it's still a struggle to go anywhere with the two kids, grocery shopping is basically just an ordeal that I suffer through, I'm still exhausted at the end of the day and I don't always do a very good job of saving some of my energy for Korey, my house isn't always clean, the laundry isn't always done, and I don't always have time for a nice quiet time or for spending time in prayer, but my attitude and outlook have definitely changed! I'm sure it has something to do with all the prayers that have been offered up on my behalf, actually, I'm almost positive it has a lot to do with all the prayers! And, I appreciate all of them! I'm so thankful that God has given me the grace to enjoy my children and peace in our household. Only God could have worked such a great change in my heart and in Hailey's attitude and I will be forever thankful to Him for His great gift of Joy in my heart and the change that that has brought in all of our lives!

It was an Elmo filled day!!

I'm officially the proud mother of a 2 year old!!

Hailey found one of her birthday presents a day early...an elmo doll! She was so excited when she found it that I just didn't have the heart to take it from her and make her wait until the next day to get it! :) And, it was so worth it when she took it to bed with her and I heard her singing songs to it and putting it to sleep!!

On Saturday we had all of Hailey's aunts and uncles and grandparent's and great grandparent's over for a little birthday party!! She was so excited- she had all of her favorite people in one place and she got tons of elmo books- what more could a little girl want, right?! :)

she definitely had a good time opening all the gifts...she kept getting distracted and wanting to eat a cookie, instead, but we helped her keep on track!! :)

Auntie Sarah made her an adorable Elmo cake! And, she loved it!!

(who wouldn't, though...isn't it great looking?!)

at first she didn't really know what to make of the cake, but once she figured out that it had frosting on it that she could eat, she got a little more into it!! :)

and, once we started singing she definitely got into it!!

She even clapped for us all when we were done! :)

Doesn't this look like a little girl who enjoyed her birthday?? And, most specifically the cake? :)

We took her outfit off, because we were afraid that the red frosting would stain her cute little outfit!! Good thing for her she didn't mind eating her cake without a shirt on!! :)

I would say that her 2nd birthday was defintely a success! And, there were only a few tears shed by mommy...and that was today when she went into the 2 year old classroom, instead of the nursery! Luckily for me her little friend, Eli, was in the nursery so I could snuggle her to my hearts content! :)

Happy Birthday, Hailey girl!

"I'm 2"

That's what Korey has been teaching Hailey to say and it's hard to believe that tomorrow at 1:37pm it will be true! I can hardly believe that 2 years ago it was a Wednesday night and I was making sure all my bags were packed and nervously thinking about labor and contemplating holding my baby girl!

Wow!! Life has changed so much and she has grown so much in two years that I can barely believe it! I never knew you could love a child as much as I do Hailey! She is definitely the apple of her Papa's eye, but she has a very special place in my heart. Not only is she my first child, but she is my miracle baby- the child that I asked and begged God for- my blessing from above. There are days that she wears me out, that I put her down for a nap and just fall into the couch exhausted- or even wish that I could just take a moment to sit on the couch, but even on those days I am reminded of how thankful I am that God gave her to me. She makes me so happy, she makes me laugh, she definitely makes me smile, she keeps me on my toes, she shows me God's grace, she reminds me of myself when I was a kid (so, she makes me thankful for my mother and all her patience), she stretches me and shows me new things about myself, she makes me rely on God's strength when mine is depleted and I still need to keep up with her, but most of all she makes me thankful!! When I see Hailey I am reminded that God does enjoy giving good gifts to His children.

Tomorrow we're having an elmo themed birthday for Hailey and I'm so excited about it. She's so "into" elmo these days- everything is Elmo and Zoey. Today she found one of her birthday presents (an elmo doll) and carried it everywhere with her, shared her dinner with it, fed it a snack, cried when she had to take a bath without it, and snuggled with it when it was bedtime, so I'm really thinking she's gonna LOVE all the elmo stuff she's gonna see tomorrow!! :)

Happy Birthday, sweet little girl. I hope you enjoy your day filled with "elmo" and family!! I pray that we have many, many, many more giggle filled years with you!! :) Your mommy loves you, don't ever forget that!

"love at first sight"

well, let's just say that it wasn't truly love at first sight, but it's love all the same! :)

these two little ones are in love and they take every opportunity to show it!
aren't they cute??

I think so and I'm pretty much in LOVE with them both! And, it was love at first sight for me! :)

it's been kind of poopy...

around here lately! I honestly can say that I was greatly shocked at what I saw the other day when I went to get Hailey out of her bed in the morning. There's not much that shocks me, anymore, and I even have been known to say that nothing Hailey comes up with would shock me, but I guess she made a liar out of me again! (isn't that some sort of kid specialty??) :)

What shocked my senses was a crib, a little girl, all her bedding and stuffed animals covered in poop!! Yup, that's right- I did say poop!! She had poo'd in her diaper sometime in the night or early morning and decided that it would be fun to take her jammies and diaper off and play in it. Needless to say her Momma did not think that was a good idea and neither did her Papa, but she didn't ask us...in fact, she didn't even ask us when she did it the second time!! Yup, that's right- most kids don't even do it once, but my kid is such an over achiever that she did it twice!! Lucky for her, her mom and dad are very resourceful and now she gets to wear duct tape on her diaper!! And, so far our little houdini has not mananged to remove the duct tape to get to the diaper...not that she hasn't tried, she just hasn't succeeded- YET! And, if I find her again covered, head to toe, in poop- it won't even shock me!! :)

Hailey has been up to some cute little things these days, as well! She's starting to really like her baby brother! Which is a huge relief to me. I was seriuosly wondering if it would ever happen. But, now that he can smile and talk back to her- she loves him! :) It warms my heart!
she also got a new potty and has been trying it out a few times a day. So far we've only managed to get her to go in it once, but I figure it's a start that she even wants to sit on it! :)

She's been copying her Daddy more and more- even finding his hats laying around the house and putting them on! The best part is that she then comes to me and says, "cute, cute"!! Nothing wrong with our little girls self esteem! :)

We're really hoping that the rest of this week is filled with more cute little things and less poop! ;)

there are days that I wish...

I were Hailey's Papa, instead of her Mama! Korey and Hailey have so much fun playing together. He never has to worry about making dinner instead of playing with her, or cleaning the house...or anything boring like that- he can just focus on playtime when he's done with work!

(that's where the analogy falls apart...I would NEVER want to go to work every day instead of hanging out with my kiddos!)

Hailey's new favorite thing is to get a ride in Korey's pants pockets!

She's also a big fan of putting her "Papa" to be on the kitchen floor and covering him up with towels and washclothes!

she was so proud of herself, she even stopped to pose for a picture!

I'm pretty sure that Papa has a good time playing, too. He considers himself her life sized doll!

at the very end of the drawer she found a little baby bib and of course she knew that he had to have that, just in case he wanted to eat while sleeping! :)

then, when mommy finally put an end to the amount of towels she could get out of the drawer, she pulled 'em all off and started over...can you see that huge pile of towels and washclothes??

(I wasn't even exaggerating- she really did take them all out)

after all the playing, Korey snuggled her up on the couch in a blanket and watched "the cat in the hat"! :)

How much better can life get, huh?! Does it make you wish you were Hailey's Papa??

4 months

Jackson is 4 months old. I can hardly believe it...where has this past four months gone?? probably the same place that my sleep has gone-

and where that is, anyone's guess is as good as mine!! :)

But, I'd rather have this little guy than sleep- it's true- believe it!!

Jack's really starting to look at things and take them all in- especially his Dad!

(he is kind of goofy looking, so who can blame him?)

and, he's starting to get a cute, goofy little personality! He's super ticklish and just giggles and giggles when we tickle his belly!

he loves his jumperoo, now! It took a few days of putting him in it and some creativity(putting a blankie under it so that he could get some traction on something), but he seems to be a big fan of it, now!

he has a huge love affair with his little fingers- they ALWAYS find their way to his mouth and as long as he can have his fingers he's happy! :)

I just love this little guy and am soooo thankful that God blessed me with him. He's the best baby a mom could ever ask for- he rarely cries- pretty much only when he's tired or hungry, he's easily entertained, he smiles and giggles, he's cute as a button, he falls asleep in his bouncy seat when I'm not paying attention, and I never have to worry about leaving him at someone's house, 'cause I know that he'll be good!!! In fact, if he would just take a bottle he would be perfect, but we're still working on that! ! :)