Kenley's Fall Shopping Spee

My sister and I took Kenley shopping yesterday. She is getting so big that I need to start buying her clothes to fit a 6 month old! Not only that, but we don't have many fall clothes so I needed to get her something to wear for colder weather. Anyway, I found this hat and fell in love with it. Doesn't she look so cute? It's so cute I can't stand it! The picture is a little blurry because my sister took it with a camera phone.

The outfits we bought to go with it are just as adorable. When she fits into them I will update with more pictures.

More Pictures

Kenley has a picture site as well! We've uploaded most of the pictures we've taken of her since birth (we are a little bit behind, but when you have a newborn, you really don't have much time). Here is her picture site:

http://kenleyolivia.shutterfly.com

Update!

So here she is - she's 6 weeks old already. She has changed so much from her newborn pictures. Poor baby is loosing some of her gorgeous brown hair - we're hopeful it will come back soon! Even without as much hair, she is still as cute as can be.

At 6 weeks old, Kenley is not only smirking, but she is smiling when we talk to her and when she gets up from her naps. She LOVES it when Mommy reads books to her and sings songs. So far her favorite song is 'You Are My Sunshine'. We must sing that song over 50 times a day. She still eats every 2 hours (which takes its toll on Mommy), but nothing beats the bonding that we share when shes nursing.

Even though she is smiling a lot now, that doesn't mean that she is crying any less. I love this outfit! I wanted to get a cute picture of her in it but she wouldn't cooperate with me (mainly because I took the binkie out of her mouth thinking she would smile - I was wrong). But even when she's crying, she's still adorable (although I might tell you something else at 3am when she looks like this).

And of course, I had to post this picture! Game Day at the Knitz house. Although game 1 was not one of Michigans best, she is still their #1 Fan! GO BLUE!

Mommy's First Whoops!

Myself, Kenley, Auntie Jen and Madison all went down to Rossford to watch Kenley's big sister, Grace, cheer. Grace had a blast and was so adorable! She is going to teach Kenley some cheer moves when Kenley gets a little older (shes got a great big sister to look up too).

Anyway, I didn't want to whip out my boob and feed her in the middle of a high school football game, so I prepared a bottle to take with me in case she needed it. So we are at the game, I reach into the diaper bag to pull out the bottle and what I get is a soaking wet hand. Silly mom - I prepared the bottle WITHOUT the nipple - whoops! Milkwas all over the diaper bag, and my sister got a kick out of it. I guess this is the first of MANY 'whoops' parenting moments.

Kenley's Dr. Appointment

She's a month old already - time to go to the dr. for another check up. She is 22 inches long, weighs 10lbs 15oz (little chunky monkey) she is in the 90th percentile (whatever that means) and she cried like crazy when she got her Hep B shot. I am dreading her 2 month appointment when they stick her with a needle 4 times. She got one shot today and Tim had to go with me to hold her down because I sat in the corner all teary eyed while she cried (I'm such a baby).
She is perfectly healthy!

Happy Anniversary

Tim and I celebrated our 2nd anniversary today! We went to The Melting Pot (a fondue restaurant) and I highly recommend it, the food was amazing! Tim arranged for a cozy little booth for two complete with a long stem rose waiting for me when I got there.
I realized yesterday how much parenthood takes a toll on a person.
My sister watched Kenley (she was such a good girl and behaved all night for her auntie). Auntie was her first babysitter. My sister told us to go a head and catch a movie after dinner if we wanted too because she wanted to spend as much time as possible with the baby. Halfway through dinner we were both so tired - I thought I was going to curl up in a ball and fall asleep at the table (how romantic - I know). Needless to say, we didn't think that spending money to go to a movie so we could fall asleep for a few hours without interuption could be justified.
Still, our anniversary was great! And the chocolate fondue more than made up for the lack of sleep!

Photo Slideshow

It's been a long time coming! Amanda sent me a cd of all of Kenley's pictures (which was over 800). Tim put together the following slideshow so you could see some of them. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

1 Month Old Today

Today was all about her (Everyday is all about her)! But today she turned 1 month old. I woke up this morning and told Kenley she was a big girl now and that she might want to start learning to use the potty like big girls should. Needless to say, I got a toothless grin as she left me a 'present' in her diaper.
I cried last night. I was in her nursery folding her laundry and listening to her lullaby cd (yes, they are just as relaxing to adults as they are to infants) and realized she no longer fits into her newborn clothes. I had to put them all away for safe keeping (in the event we have another little girl in the future). Don't get me wrong, I love watching her grow up. It's amazing how much she's grown in just these few short weeks. But...I'm begining to believe in what everyone tells me: "enjoy her as much as you can now - it goes by so fast".

Future Model?

I'm a sucker for great photography! Lord knows that in the first few days of her life we took over 200 pictures, BUT I'm not a photographer and no one in my family is either (well we have some talented people on Tim's side of the family, but we live in MI, they live in OH and IN). Kids grow up so fast (I see that with my niece Madison and my two step children, Brandon and Grace). I had no choice but to hire a professional to capture her precious face as a newborn, and a professional I hired! Amanda Williams (http://www.amandawilliamsphotography.com/) exceeded my expectations. She came out to the house when Kenley was only 9 days old, and within an hour she shot over 1000 pictures of our beautiful baby girl! Here are a few sample pictures....

As soon as I get the rest of her pictures, I will be updating the blog with a slideshow - so stay tuned!!!!!

Welcome Home!

We were discharged on Sunday, August 3rd in the morning. Kenley came home to 8 pink balloons (I'm assuming that had something to do with her being born on 08-01-08 and being 8lbs 8oz) and a welcome home sign. It was odd leaving the house as two and coming home as three. All three of us took a nap, then drove over to Grandma/Grandpa's house for dinner and to introduce Kenley to the rest of the family.

Since then, Kenley has been to Ohio quite a few times to visit her big brother and sister (Brandon and Grace). She's met the rest of Tim's family, been out to eat at a few restaurants, gone shopping with Auntie Jen and cousin Maddie and yes, she's even been to school! (Brandon and Grace had open house so we all went to meet their teachers). Needless to say, she is a busy little girl.

It's A Girl

Kenley's Birth Story

Kenley Olivia Knitz

Born August 1, 2008

at 1:15am

8lbs, 8oz

20.5 inches

After 9 long months of waiting, Kenley Olivia was born on 08-01-08. We chose early on not to find out what the sex of the baby would be. Life doesn't have many surprises and this is one of the biggest surprises God can give you - so we decided to wait.

My due date was set for 07-27-08. At my doctor's appointment that week (07-30-08), my doctor decided that if I wanted to try for a natural birth, I might want to consider being induced. He was concerned that the baby would be too big for me to deliver and waiting any longer would only make the baby bigger. I did not want an induction, but at the same time I also wanted this baby out. I called Tim and told him that we had to pack our bags when he got home from work, we were going to the hospital to have a baby that night.

Our Arrival At Henry Ford Hospital

We arrived at the hospital at 8pm that night. We were settled into our room, I was given an IV, I was hooked up to the monitors and the doctor came in to give me my dose of Cervidil to 'jump start' the process. That was when it hit me - oh my God, I'm going to be someones mom within the next 24 hours!

Bring On The Pain

I went to sleep that night and woke up around 4:45am in pain! These were not the Braxton Hicks pains I was used too, these were something more intense. I dealt with the pain on my own (I let Tim sleep) until around 7am. The doctor came and removed the Cervidil around 9:30am, we were told to call room service to get something to eat and take a shower. We had a long day a head of us. My mom showed up sometime that morning and we walked the halls hoping that the baby would drop and the contractions would get a little closer together. We had to stop every 3-4 min. in the hallway so I could breathe through a contraction and either my mom or Tim could rub my back. Around 12:30pm I decided that the pain was getting a little much and I wanted to sit down for a bit to rest. Tim went to sleep and I sat and talked to my mom for awhile. Around 1pm I had to go to the bathroom - I made it halfway there when I felt this HUGE gush of water. I looked down and realized I was standing in a puddle. I told my mom "Either I just pee'd myself or my water broke". She went to get a nurse, and it was determined - my water broke! Woo Hoo - things are progressing! No more walking for me, I had to be in bed now and just wait for the impending pain (I thought I was in pain already though - oh, I was wrong). At 3pm pitocin was started and the contractions got so bad it was hard to breathe through them anymore. Pitocin is evil! The nurse gave me a birthing ball to bounce on - this made me happy while I was in between contractions, but not during. The pain was getting to the point where it was unbearable and everytime I had a contraction I would cry from pain and exhaustion. At 6pm it was determined that I was still at 3cm and only 70% effaced - they gave me the epidural anyway. Take it from me, epidurals were made at the hand of God himself. They are wonderful and I will take the needle in the spine any day over the pain I was feeling before hand. Shortly after the epidural I was 5cm and 80% effaced, but the baby was still not dropping.

Here Comes The Dr. - Time To Make A Decision

Around midnight my doctor stopped in to check on me. There was still no progress at all. The baby would not drop (stubborn child) and I was not dilating past 5cm. We called it at that point and decided to take the baby by C-Section. At this point, I didn't care how this baby came out, as long as it came out healthy. So a C-Section was the decision and I was perfectly fine with that. I got even better drugs in the epidural, and Tim put on his scrubs (he was so cute) - then they wheeled me into the O.R.

It's A Girl!

A lot of the delivery is like a blur. Compared with the exhaustion and the drugs, I was a little loopy and throwing up. According to my nurses and Tim I was babbling and kept talking through the whole thing. Apparently I wanted a play-by-play of exactly what the doctor was doing. To have a c-section is such a wild experiance. I can 'feel' the scapel, I can feel the pressure, I know exactly what the doctor is doing, yet there is no pain - such a strange sensation. At 1:15am the doctor told daddy to stand up and watch his child being born. I heard a few cries, but the baby was still inside, only the head was out, so I didn't know if we had a boy or a girl. After a few seconds I heard a louder cry and that was when Tim looked and said "We have a baby girl". I cried, they lifted her over the curtain so I could see and then that was all I remember. Apparently, I was saying that I could feel them 'putting me back together', so they knocked me out while Tim and our little girl went to the nursery.

>

I finally came to around 3am. I remember Tim standing there with the most precious baby in his arms. I was babbling and not making a lot of sense, and I kept asking the same questions over and over again - I guess it took me a while to come out of the drugs. I finally got to hold my little girl though - the most precious thing my husband could ever give to me. It was at that moment that I fell in love all over again with my husband and our little Kenley.

Overall, c-sections are not as bad as everyone makes them out to be. I wish I didn't have to endure the 20 hours of labor before-hand, but that's the hand I was dealt and I'm not going to complain. My delivery was incredibly simple, I didn't have to do anything, and the recovery was not bad at all. I was actually up and walking that same week - I recovered like a champ! The only thing I did not like was that I was knocked out right after she was born. I missed the first few hours of my daughters life - but at least her daddy was there with her the whole time.

I've learned that one never really knows pure, unconditional love until they hear their child take their first breath or hold their child for the first time. Both her daddy and I are truely blessed. I can't wait to watch her grow up!