Kenzie's First Week Home

After an extra long checkout process (why does this always take 5 hours?) and a minor meltdown on the way home (I blame hormones and pain), we made it home around 1:30 on the 16th. The kids were so excited to see Makenzie, and to find out that she would be living at our house with us :). It's so funny to field all of these questions like 'Where will she be when I wake up? Where is she sleeping? Is she mine?' 10 times each day, but it shows me how life-changing a new addition is for each member of our family. I knew Olivia was very ready to have a baby around, but I wasn't sure how Carter would react to being a big brother, and having less mom time. He is much more attached to the grownups around than Olivia ever was. I shouldn't have been worried though, he was fascinated from the beginning, and loves his little baby.

We spent our first week relaxing and hanging out at home. I tried to capture the moments of Makenzie looking like a newborn, those days go so fast. The hardest thing to remember with Kenzie was to wake her up to eat. She slept for her entire first week, and really didn't want to be bothered to eat at all. This picture was the first time she put her plug in ... not on purpose but still cute! Her face looks so little behind that huge pacifier. This is also the most jaundiced that she ever looked. It never made it past her chest, and was never a major concern.

At her lightest, Makenzie was 6 lb 14 oz, at her 5 day appointment. I had to convince the doctor to give her a few more days, and she started gaining weight right after that. She just had to be convinced that eating was something worth waking up for :).

The next morning we got the kids outside with Dad to play in the snow. They got to play with their cousins, but they were totally thrilled to be the first people to disturb the snow in our back yard after 4 days.

We had some crazy icicle action on our garage and the neighboring houses. Olivia just wanted to eat them, but I had visions of 'The Christmas Story' going through my head, so I made the kids stay away.

My mom was in town, so we had everyone over for dinner on the 17th. I enjoyed just sitting around while my mom and Amber did all the cooking and cleaning :). In all seriousness, it was wonderful to have so much help with this baby. I love being close to family so we always have a backup plan if there is an emergency, and we live parallel lives so we see each other often. Even our out-of-town family seems close when we see them (about) once a month! Here are just a few beautiful pictures of our sweet little girl. She is known as 'Kenzie', 'Mac-k-kenzie', and 'Little One'. She lights up our days (and nights too ;)).

This picture caused a big stir for a couple months in our house. Carter laid down to just hang out with his sister, and when she started waving her arms, I made the mistake of saying 'She's trying to get you!'. Carter got all worried and scared, and wouldn't go within a foot of her until after the New Year. I learned to watch my tongue!

One of the issues of having a baby on the biggest snow day of the year is the driveway maintenance. After 4 days of only a few cars driving on it, and no shoveling happening at all, Alex went out to make it drive-able. He ended up using the back side of the ax (and the front side apparently), to break up the ice enough to shovel. He spent over an hour out there just to get tracks to drive in, and we decided to wait until it warmed up a little before tackling the rest. I have a wonderful husband :).

The next weekend Gary, Mary, and Ashley came to meet the baby. I was still getting used to being a new mommy again, and didn't get a single picture of them actually holding the baby, but I got some with the rest of the kids! They brought the kids a super fun snow painting kit! This led to fun pictures, name-writing, and me bringing my 7-day-old baby out in the snow with no hat! She was only out there for about a minute, but she had to get her picture with her name :).

I wish I had this picture of Mary and Olivia from a better angle, it was the sweetest moment of all-out running to jump into Grandma's arms :) We are so lucky to have wonderful Grandparents who play with our kids and come to see us often. I have always felt like I had some of the best Grandparents in the world, and I'm glad that my kids will have the same experience.

Seeing all the swaddling of baby Makenzie led to big-kid swaddling late one night :).

I can't even count how many pictures I have like this. Ashley will be somewhere, anywhere, doing anything, and Olivia just sits right beside copying every move. From crossed ankles to sitting with a stuffed dog, this girl wants to be just like her Aunt Ashley.

The 21st was Makenzie's one week birthday! We celebrated with a bath :).

I love waking up to a newborn. She is just so beautiful, and so alert and aware of the things around her. This particular morning she discovered her hand...and loved the taste. It put her right back to sleep :).

We had a lot of fun with Grandma, Grandpa, and Ashley while they were here. The kids love having SO many grownups to show off for and play with. Alex and I also enjoy the perspective that we get from having other people laugh at our kids incessant 'why'ing and other toddler things. It's easy to forget how precious this time is with all of our kids at home during the day. They grow and learn every day, I just hope that I am helping them grow and learn in the right ways!

After realizing that I hadn't taken any pictures of the Casqueiro Grandparents with all the kids, I knew I needed to take one of my parents while my dad was here. He came for a few days before they spent Thanksgiving in Utah. It was perfect timing for a trip, and allowed my mom to stay for almost 2 weeks, which was wonderful for me and our adjustment to having three kids. This picture could have better kid faces, but is sweet nonetheless. You can tell that Carter was slightly sick and spent that day as a mouth breather :).

And the Grandpa pyramid :)

After we made the kids get dressed for a picture, they spent a while playing with Grandma and Grandpa before they left that morning. I just love sitting and listening to their conversations (O is showing Grandpa her cool jewelry box and all the treasures she keeps inside. Carter just wanted to play catch, which is how he spends at least half of every day :).

Kenzie spent a good amount of time resting on her tissue paper bed, made by her big sister. O is always looking out for things that Makenzie 'needs', and most of the time we can let her take care of those needs. Occasionally she forgets that she is 4 and needs help when moving, holding, and playing with Kenzie, but she is a very caring and capable big sister.