Weekend

I had a great weekend visiting my sister, Alisa in Sioux City. My other sisters and parents were also in town so we all spent some time together. My aunt Joleen lives in Sergeant Bluff so she was kind enough to take us all in for the weekend! The weekend started Friday night when we went to watch my youngest sisters, Andrea and Abby play basketball in Lake City. Aaron's cousin also played that night so he went along for the game.

Saturday we got to Sioux City late afternoon so we dropped our stuff off at Joleen's and then went to a meal for my Dad's work at Van Meter. Then we headed to the hockey game. We only stayed for one quarter since none of us are huge hockey fans. A quarter was just enough for Kinnick as well. We did a little shopping and then headed back to Joleen's.

Sunday morning our uncle Dean made everyone delicious omelettes and then more shopping. The weekend was fun and I can't wait to visit again but I must say it isn't easy to be a mom on the go when you are breastfeeding.

Since I am pumping exclusively every 3 hours I would have to search for a place to pump or arrange my schedule accordingly. I pumped at my aunts right before we left for shopping so I had a good three hours before having to worry about it. In three hours we were at the mall so I searched for a family restroom so that I wouldn't be in the big public restroom. The search was unsuccessful. Luckily my pump can run on batteries because there is not a single restroom that has an outlet. I really hate pumping in the restroom because it feels so unsanitary and you have to sit on the toilet. If our society is pushing breastfeeding maybe they should take these thoughts into consideration.

Photography

I know I know... 2 posts in one night. It didn't seem fair to include this post in the Dentist post so I am just making a second post.

I have been wanting to pick up a hobby besides traveling since funds have decreased with 2 children. I love getting the kids pictures taken but hate paying the price for the professional experience. Plus with a refinished large basement I have plenty of space to set up something small for the kiddos.

I began by asking for a DSLR camera for Christmas. I asked a few of my friends what they preferred and I got a mixed review for Nikon and Canon. I ultimately let Aaron decide between the two brands. Nikon was a bit harder to purchase because of the tsunami. Aaron came through and got me the Nikon D31oo ...especially since it was the only thing I asked for.

Next I purchased a second lens for portraits...50mm 1.8G. I had originally wanted the 1.4 but wasn't ready to spend 400.00 on a lens. Now I am trying to learn how to run the camera in manual mode instead of auto. I thought about enrolling in a photography class at ICCC but with work I thought it would be too tough....plus I didn't want the kids to go to daycare for an hour just so I could go to the class. I found some classes offered in Des Moines at Christian Photo and enrolled. The first class is Jan 31st and is a basic Nikon class... the next class is aperature and shutter speed. They also offer classes on studio lighting and photoshop.

I decided to buy one backdrop and floordrop to get started but still need quite a bit of stuff to really get going. I made a list.......

bean bag (to position babies)

furry fabric (prop)

misc props

camera bag

lighting

I am very excited to start taking pictures of Kinnick and Kara and since Aaron's cousin is having a baby as well I figured she could model as well! My sister Andrea also informed me I could take her Senior pictures since she didn't have patience for our Mom. Fingers crossed that I can figure this out!

Dentist

Well our first trip to the dentist was a good one! Of course a few tears were shed but smiles when we left. I had noticed some brown on his bottom teeth and wanted to make sure it wasn't cavities. I was pretty positive he had gotten cavities since he only wants to drink chocolate milk. I also figured we weren't brushing his teeth like we should have.

We decided on a pediatric dentist in Ames since I knew they would need extra patience for Kinnick. He cried a bit because he had to lay down but once they started brushing his teeth he was fine. They just used a tooth brush to do the cleaning and then the dentist did the counting. She assured us that what we were seeing was just a stain on his teeth. She said there are two kinds of germs commonly found in mouths that can leave a stain... one leaves a cheeto colored stain and the other brown. The stain can be removed with the scraping tool but she didn't want to scare him away so maybe on a future visit. She gave us an additional toothbrush with a stiffer bristle to try to work on it. She was so bubbly and sweet.. what a great first experience!

Welcome Baby

Well the last time that I blogged was when Kinnick was a baby so I guess I am due!

Kara Faith Kaufman has arrived! She was born on December 20th and was 6lbs and 7oz. It was kind of a rough ride for this mommy! I was beginning to dilate so we had planned on getting things moving by breaking my water that afternoon. I went in for my regular check up that morning and found out I was at a four but my midwife wanted to do an ultrasound when we got to the hospital.

Aaron and I went and ate lunch and then registered at the hospital. I was contracting when I arrived about every 3 minutes although they really weren't strong enough to feel. When she did the ultrasound we were given the news...BREECH. I was a bit over 38 weeks so if I wanted a version it had to be done that day because otherwise the baby gets too large. We also had the option of going home and waiting to see if she would turn on her own and if not schedule a c-section. For those of you who aren't familiar with a version it is external manipulation to try to turn the baby. We decided that we wanted a version and the next big decision was with or without pain medications. The baby is less sluggish if there are no pain meds so I decided to give it a try. I figured other moms have done it so I got an IV bolus and waited for several hours.

My midwife and Dr. Subhash performed the version along with 3 med students observing and of course Aaron and my mom in the room as well. I defintely had an audience! They tilted my bed so my head was down and then began putting very strong pressure on my abdomen to try to get her to move. She tolerated it well but I began contracting against their attempts so I was given some IV pain medication as well as something to relax my uterus. The next attempts were still unsuccessful. She would move slightly but had no intentions of staying that way. The risk of complications is high after a failed version so I had an emergent c-section. Not what I had planned but it went pretty smooth and everyone was very kind.

The c-section ended up being a blessing in disguise as she had a knot in her cord. It was a loose knot but could have tightened up during a vaginal delivery. She was perfect and I couldn't wait to get back to my room to get a better look at her. Aaron stayed with me while they sutured my incision. She was born at around 7:30 but after all the medications I was soo tired. I was also anemic and my hemoglobin (blood level) got down to 7 so this added to my tiredness.

Like Kinnick, Kara was jaundiced as well. Her levels never got high enough to require a bili blanket but we had to go in for daily blood draws. The hardest thing about the c section was that I was unable to lift Kinnick. I was not supposed to lift him for the total 6 weeks but that is pretty much impossible. Aaron stayed home with me for 2 weeks so I followed my restrictions for 2 weeks. I am feeling much better and have gotten a lot of energy back.

Kara is perfect and has gained all her weight back. When we left the hospital she was 5lbs 14oz and at her 2 week appt she was 6lbs 11oz. She is sleeping about 3 hours at a time and is a good little eater. As far as the big brother... it has been an adjustment having 2 kids but he has been really good. He was ornery before she was born and continues to try our patience during the terrible twos:)

Expecting!!

I wanted to give an update on what is going on with our family right now. I figured I would grab some attention with the title but sorry it is not us... Gracie is expecting puppies!! This will be her third litter. She has pretty big litters and we always have something that we need to pay for. Our plans this time are to spend the money on new flooring and then a swing set for Kinnick. We are expecting them to arrive within the next two weeks so I will be posting pics soon.

Kinnick is growing growing growing. He recently had his first real cold and I felt bad for my little man. I took him to the doctor but of course he didn't even cough once in front of them but he did a good job smiling at everyone. He was really congested so I used some Baby Vicks which seemed to help. The Baby Vicks didn't have such an overwhelming smell as the regular Vicks.

KJ is also pulling himself up on everything and has been for almost a month now. He also loves to crawl in and out of my side tables beside the couch.

I have learned that he is afraid of the vacum. His new food of choice is popsicles and anything that we are eating he wants. Still no teeth and not much hair either but the hair is growing.

Today we went to the pool for the first time. When we left fort dodge the sun was out and the humidity was high making it feel even hotter but by the time we got to the pool it was cloudy and cool. Kinnick didn't seem to mind but we didn't stay long. I look forward to all the pool opportunities to come.

In July we plan to take a family vacation to the Wisconsin Dells. Progress is coming on the basement and Aaron almost has drywall up on all the walls. We added a second bedroom to the basement so we now have a total of 5 bedrooms. We are debating on putting a closet in that bedroom or not. There is not a great place to put the closet and for now it will be a play room and later a spare bedroom. For both of these functions a closet is not really needed but we haven't decided yet. I know I know..... think of the resale but we love our home and we are doing it for us not for who could potentially purchase our home 10+ years from now. I also decided to extend the wood flooring into Kinnick's room for two reasons. One reason is that whenever the dogs have an accident it seems to be in that room...grrr...Second reason being that when we are done using it as a nursery we may use it as an office.

I will be beginning my bachelors degree at the end of the month. I just signed up for 2 undergrad classes and then once I am done with those I will get into the core nursing classes. I chose to do my bachelors through Graceland University. They seem to be the most affordable and I am able to do everything online. You also only take two courses at a time. Some courses are 8 weeks long and some are 16 weeks.

6 month Appt

Kinnick had his 6 month appt on Monday and I can't believe how big he is getting. Dr. Kelli Wallace was home with sick kids so we saw her husband Dr. Lincoln Wallace instead. He said Kinnick was a very healthy specimen:) He is in the 58th percentile for weight at 17 lbs and 13 oz. He is very sturdy! Dr. Wallace told us that we can pretty much give him anything now that he has hit the 6 month mark so we went to Target and bought snacks right away. He does a pretty good job picking up the little puffs but then they stick to his hand so he has a hard time getting them into his mouth.




His new accomplishment is army crawling for a couple weeks now and is beginning to get into everything. When we were at grandma's over the weekend he even managed to knock over one of her plants and when I found him he had leaves in his mouth. Aaron's parents say it is only a glimpse of what is to come because Aaron was a very busy little boy. I am really enjoying this age because I am able to do more things with him. Today we went to the park with Gracie and Kinnick enjoyed being pushed in the swing. We also went for a walk at Olson Park but Kinnick really didn't care about all the animals. It is also cute to see his relationship with the dogs. He holds his hands out for Gabby and will crawl like crazy to get at a wagging tail. Squirt is the only one that kind of avoids Kinnick but gives in occasionally.

I also wanted to mention that I am very proud of my sisters! Alisa graduated this past weekend and will be attending Morningside in Sioux City in the fall. She plans to major in Mass Communications and play softball as well. Andrea got the new at Alisa's graduation party that she is going to state for track. She throws shot put and just made the cut off. She is only a freshmen so she is super excited.

Update

Tuesday was a fun day for our little family. Aaron's best friend Jared and his girlfriend are having a baby very soon so we have been visiting frequently. They are having a little girl and naming her Kinsley.... Kinnick & Kinsley has a pretty nice ring huh? Well anyways we left Fort Dodge before lunch and got to Boone around 1:30. We all went out to eat at a restaurant in town and the food was great. Whenever we get together Jared always helps with Kinnick a lot. So at the table he wanted the high chair to go between him and Aaron and he shared his mashed potatoes. Kinnick was in love and stared at his food the whole time.


Next we headed back to the house for a while and got all our fishing supplies ready. Jared and I had to get our fishing licenses at Wal - Mart and some worms and then we headed out. It was so windy that day that we really were not able to enjoy fishing. If you got out of your chair it would blow away. The boys caught three fish in total but we didn't bring them for supper. My kind of fishing is when you can see the fish swim to your pole and not having to fish for an hour or two before you get a bite. The wind was so strong that I never even felt a tug on the line at all but I did come up short a worm.

That evening we grilled supper and Aaron had brought some Venison to share. We made the venison into patties and they turned out pretty good. We had enough food to feed the entire neighborhood. Iva started having some contractions that evening and she said they were strong enough to take her breath away. Everyone got a little nervous but we played cards to take her mind off of it. She continued to time her contractions and sometime after we left she ended up going to the hospital. She went into preterm labor at like 34 or 33 weeks and has been on bedrest until now. She is now 36 going on 37 weeks along. The hospital scared her contractions right away which was my experience as well. I recommended walking or slowly doing stairs to help induce labor.

She ended up going home which was a disappointment especially since weeks ago she was not ready at all and then now that she is Kinsley is not ready. Yesterday when I talked to her she was trying a home remedy of herbal tea to induce labor but so far no phone call:)

I should tell you that Kinnick has been eating solids for about 2 weeks and I was proud that I held out until just about 6 months to start him. We have been through peas, green beans, carrots, squash, sweet potatoes, and peaches and so far no dislikes. The fruits have also been good for his digestive system and no more constipation. I also got him a big boy sippy cup and did give him some diluted juice but later found out that they don't recommend juice until 1 year so we stopped that. It is crazy to hear all the things they have changed since we grew up.



Here in Dodge things are going well. Kinnick doesn't have his 6 month appt until the 17th so I will be anxious to find out how big he has gotten. He sits up all on his own and is starting to crawl. Right now it is more of an army crawl and he goes backwards a lot but he is sure trying. Aaron has been more stressed than normal about work and did have some opportunities arise so we are praying about where they will lead us. We have also decided to put wood floors in our living room and put new carpet in the bedrooms. I think I have finally selected the carpet that I want. It will also be going in the basement so we will probably end up needing a full roll. Thank goodness that Aaron's uncle owns a very successful flooring company in Indianapolis that can get flooring for us at an affordable price.



I did apply to a Bachelor's program to obtain my BSN but I have not heard back yet. They recommend 2 years of experience which I don't quite have but I figured since I have experience is so many different areas I might as well try. The program I chose is at Graceland University. I would have to go to Missouri for a total of 4 days but otherwise the program is all online. I will let you all know as soon as I hear.