More Pictures from Kade's Newborn Session

I can't thank Brooke Jantz enough.  She takes amazing pictures!  Here's a few more of my favorites!

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Also, thanks for all the wonderful comments on the previous posts!  Great hearing from all of you! 

200 Posts!

Holy cow!  The previous post was my 200th post!  If you've kept up with us for this long, kudos to you!  I'm not a good writer and we're really not all that interesting!  Ha!!! 

I'm borrowing this idea from a friend.

I would welcome you to please leave a comment and tell me a bit about yourself.  Maybe you know us.  Maybe you don't.  Maybe you found our blog through the blog of a friend. Maybe you've never left a comment.  I'd love to hear about you.  I sometimes wonder if anyone actually still reads this thing!  You can be anonymous if you like.  Thanks for taking the time to keep up on us!  If you're so inclined, please do leave a comment!

State Fair

I have so many great memories of family trips/outings growing up.  I want our kids to look back 20 years down the road and have fond memories of their childhood as well.  This leads me to be a bit idealistic.  I always come up with these great ideas and plan out the "perfect"  day.  Sometimes it works out (case in point: day before Kade was born.  We had an amazing last day as a threesome.), and sometimes things just don't go as planned (case in point: our trip to the State Fair on Saturday). 

I was SO excited to take the kids to the State Fair.  Not that either one of them will ever remember it.  But partly because Marleigh is now old enough to really enjoy the animals, climb on the farm equipment, etc., and partly because it is so nice to be able to take our son in public and not be scared to death he'll get sick.  It was supposed to be a gorgeous day on Saturday (at least that's what the forecast said earlier in the week).  Marc had been gone Wednesday through Friday, so I thought it would be a fabulous way for us to spend our Saturday as a family. 

It all started Friday night.  Kade had a really rough night, which meant Mommy and Daddy were shot already first thing Saturday morning.  I had planned for us to be out of the house by 8:30.  At 9:01 we left the house, only to realize we needed gas.  While getting gas, we realized we somehow made it out of the house without a binkie for Kade, so we had to run back by the house.  It was now 9:17 and we were finally on the road.  At this point, I was still determined to make it the "perfect" day.  About half way there, it started pouring.  Shortly thereafter, Kade started crying.  It rained on us the rest of the way to Hutch.  Instead of heading straight to the fair, we crashed my sister's house for about an hour waiting for the rain to clear out.  I was ready to throw in the towel.  I was sure the rest of the day would just be one big disappointment.  But a certain two year old kept asking, "Can I go to the fair and see tractors, combines, and cows?"  (Go figure, she wanted to go see things that we have back home!)  Marc convinced me to not let a few setbacks ruin our day. 

Although we were only there a little over two hours and didn't ride any rides, it was perfect.  The highlight of the day was Marleigh asking begging to ride a camel.  She is normally afraid of ANYTHING new or different.  We were both shocked when she asked to ride it.  We fully expected her to get near the camel, and cling to Marc, but she hopped right on. Snickers gave her and Daddy a great ride! 

Kade is SO excited to be going to the fair!

Happy to be in a combine!

She had to drive!

Happy girl!

We even found the owner of one of the cows, and he let Marleigh pet it.  She LOVED it!

Looking at all the bunnies (and there were a lot!)

Seriously, he can't contain his excitement!

Ready for a ride on Snickers.

Loving the camel ride!

I am so glad we went.  We had an amazing time as a family.  I'm learning that even when things don't
go exactly as I've planned, all that matters is that we're together as a family and it can still lead to some fantastic memories.

Update on the munchkins

Turns out Marleigh did NOT have mono.  Thank the good Lord!  Just some sort of viral infection.  She seemed to be feeling better for a few days, but now has a stuffy nose.  I guess it is always something. 

However, Marleigh is still having a VERY hard time adjusting to having a little brother.  She loves him so much.  She gets him his bink, brings him his blankie, etc.  If she can't see him, she is asking where he is.  She just isn't handling having to share Mommy and Daddy very well. Not at all.  I keep thinking it will get better.  It has to, right?  We have tried everything we know of to help her, but nothing seems to be working.  Does anyone have any magic words of wisdom?  We give her one on one time with each of us every day.  We praise her continuously.  We tell her what a big help and what an awesome big sister she is.  It makes my heart hurt to see our sweet, little girl acting out.  I know it is because she is unhappy or jealous, and I hate that.  I am a "fixer".  I want to make it all better and I can't.  It weighs heavy.  It feels like I am failing her in some way.  The only silver lining is that she only acts out for Marc and I.  She is still the well-behaved, good mannered little girl for everyone else. 

Kade is finally back to being our happy little boy.  After doing some research, and talking to another mom (thanks again, Erin), we thought Kade might be suffering from lactose overload (which is different than lactose intolerance).  I started out trying just nursing one side per feeding.  We saw some improvement, but he was still unhappy and uncomfortable.  We then decided to try and supplement with a lactose free formula.  Again, a little improvement.  I finally had to do what is best for Kade and we have quit nursing all together.  The change in him is remarkable.  It was almost instant.  He no longer has painful/forceful gas & bowel movements.  He no longer draws his legs up and cries out.  He is finally back to napping longer than 30 minutes, and he is sleeping back in his bed at night.  He has not been colicky at all in the past 2 days.  I am so very disappointed not to be nursing him, but it is obvious he wasn't handling breast milk well.  I had thought about pumping for the next few months, in hopes of trying breast milk again, but have noticed a decreased supply already.  Once again, I'm trying to find the silver lining.  I was able to nurse him for 8 weeks and he is a healthy baby.  That was 8 weeks longer than I nursed Marleigh.  Granted, Marleigh got pumped breast milk for 9 months, but that just isn't the same as nursing a cuddly baby.  I am just so thankful that we figured out what was going on with him!

Ryan and Michaela's visit

Ryan and Michaela made the LONG drive from Marionville, MO to spend the Labor Day weekend with us.  They have two adorable girls.  Reese is 5 and Keira is 2.  Marleigh's personality and Reese's are very similar.  They are both a little reserved, love reading and puzzles.  Keira is a bit more outgoing than the other two girls.  She is ALWAYS on the go! And, man, can that girl eat!  She flat out puts away the food!

As soon as they arrived on Saturday, Ryan and Marc packed up and headed to Manhattan.  It was the first football game of the season, so they HAD to go!  ;)  Thank goodness K-State pulled off the win, or I would have had one grumpy hubby for the rest of the weekend. 

Michaela and I spent the day hanging out with the kids and just chatting.  It was absolutely wonderful.  We had nowhere to be or nothing really scheduled.  Sometimes those are the best times with family!

Sunday was another lazy day.  Marc, Ryan, and Michaela did take the older kids to the park to play.  It was an absolute gorgeous day! 

Reese was adorable with Kade.  I kept telling her we were going to keep her, since she was such a good babysitter.  She kept him entertained. 

Keira was pretty funny with the cat.  The cat kept her entertained!  Ha!  She kept running through the house saying, "Where the cat go?"

Here's a few pictures from our weekend.  Marleigh, for some reason, didn't want her picture taken, so that is why there is none of her.  :(

Reese playing with Kade

Keira stopping long enough for a picture!

Kade with Aunt Michaela, and the best 5 year old babysitter I know!  :)

We are so glad they made the trek clear out here!  Now we need to head to Missouri to see them!  It has been far too long since we've visited them. 

Long 10 days at the Johnson house

Man, it has been a rough stretch. 

About 10 days ago, Kade all of the sudden one night developed colic like behavior.  From around 9:00-1:00am he was crying, drawing up his legs, and just generally a bear.  It went on for 5 nights in a row.  He also turned into a grumpy baby during the day, which was odd.  He has always been such a happy baby.   I finally did some research online and thought perhaps it was a combination of breastfeeding issues.  I have an oversupply, and had an imbalance in foremilk/hindmilk.  We implemented a few different techniques, which seemed to somewhat help.  I also took him to the pediatrician.  She agreed that it was some breastfeeding problems, and also prescribed some levsin drops that help relax the gut/intestines.  We have seen some improvements in him, but he still won't really sleep from about 9-1 every night. He is back to being happy during the day, so that helps a bunch.

At the same time as Kade started all his fun, new behavior, Marleigh started being very cranky, got dark circles, began not eating, and didn't have much energy.  I thought maybe it was just still adjusting to baby brother, but decided to take her to the doctor.  I thought maybe she was anemic, since she hadn't been wanting to eat much.  Well, she was diagnosed with allergies, and they decided to do a complete CBC.  Bloodwork came back that she is fighting some sort of viral infection (they think mono).  We were supposed to hear test results Friday, but never got the phone call.  Hopefully, we hear soon. 

In the meantime, please keep my babies in your thoughts and prayers!  Thanks!


Oh... and we had a great visit over the long weekend from Marc's sister and her family.  I'll post about that and some pictures, soon!