Christmas Festivities

Christmas crept up on me way to fast this year! Having a baby at the first part of December really makes those last few weeks before Christmas really FLY by lol  I was still able to finish my shopping and pull it together.. kinda.  Since Harper was still so young I didnt dare take her out to anyones home so on Christmas Eve Brandon took Kinsey to his grandma's house.  They do lots of fun games for kids and I didnt want her to miss out just because she had a little sister.  So she got to go have fun and didnt miss out :)  We even dressed her up in a fancy dress and made her feel SOOO special!  While they were gone I cleaned and wrapped gifts and got things ready for the next day. 

When they got home we got the girls dressed in their Christmas jammies and set out cookies and milk for Santa!  I love having kids for so many reasons and this is one of them!  It makes you re-live your childhood years when you used to do certain things.  Plus it makes the holidays that much more :)  After Kinsey went to bed Brandon and I set out the "Santa" gifts and we had so much fun displaying them and eating the cookies haha

Christmas morning was a blast! Kinsey was so excited and she kinda understood the whole Santa thing.. Next year will be better!  She even laughed when she saw the plate of cookies because there were crumbs everywhere (Brandon's idea)  We opened gifts and just enjoyed time with the family.  Harper was cute as can be and just laid on the couch staring at the wrapping paper.  Brandon spoiled the crap out of me this year, he got me a new iPod (mine from last year died.. its sad), clothes to work out in, a new pillow, a new cookbook, lotion, and other neat little things.  He is such a turd and wasnt supposed to spend a lot on me, we had set a limit and I think he quadrupled it....

Instead of getting everyone ready and going to Brandon's parents, my dads, and my moms, we decided to have everyone come to us this year!  That was the best thing I could have ever thought of lol  We were able to lounge in our pjs and eat breakfast and play with our new toys and people started to come over after 12.  I made chicken tacos and a winter punch and everyone just enjoyed themselves.  I am so thankful we have a big enough house to accommodate our families now!  Kinsey and Harper got SPOILED!!! Poor Kins started to get a little overwhelmed after a little bit and had to take a break.. Our living room was packed with wrapping paper, boxes, toys and LOTS of clothes haha

This was such a GREAT Christmas and I know they will just keep getting better :)

Miss Harps is 6 weeks!

Holy cow time is in super speedy fast mode around here!  Harper is 6 weeks old, Ill be 22 in a week, and Kinsey will be 2 in 2 weeks!

Harper has been so much fun to have in our family!  People always told me you love all your kids equally and I always had a hard time believing it, as bad as that sounds.  BUT it is so true!!!!!  I love my girls so much and it is a much different love then I have ever felt.  Having Harper has really made me realize how fast kids do grow up.  I look at her sometimes and feel like I am holding Kinsey when she was this age, and now Kinsey is a busy, active, talking toddler! 

My days feel like hours but I am trying my best to take everything in and just enjoy my life :)  I will admit I feel into a bit of deep depression right after delivering Harper.  When we got home I was expecting everything to be perfect and run smoothly but it was quite opposite.  Kinsey got VERY sick, then Harper got sick, then the holidays were so busy and then I started school just 3 weeks after delivering so I just had ZERO time to relax and enjoy MYSELF.  I finally feel like I am coming back to my normal self and feeling pretty good :)
Our daily routine is very organized and I am quite proud how smoothly my day goes with school, the gym, 2 kids, a puppy and house to take care of lol. This is a typical day:
5am: I get up and go to the gym
6am: I come home and get in the shower and start getting ready for the day while my coffee is brewing lol
7am: Harper starts to wake up and this is her first feeding of the day
sometime between 730-8 Kinsey wakes up
745am: Im out the door on my way to school and Brandon gets some one on one time with the girls
945am: I get home and clean up from the morning and get some chores done
10am: Harper eats and Kinsey gets a morning snack, then I get the girls dressed and ready for the day
1130am: Harper lays down for a nap and Kinsey and I play
1230pm: Lunchtime for Kinsey and I
1pm: Kinsey lays down for a nap and Harper eats and then her and I snuggle and play :)
2pm: Harper lays down for a nap and I run around trying to clean house or do homework
3pm: Kinsey wakes up and we watch Sesame Street while she eats a snack
330pm: Harper eats
5pm: I start cooking dinner while Kinsey plays and Harper lays down for a nap
545pm: Dinner time for Kinsey and I
6pm: Harper eats then we all play together as a family
7pm: Harper gets a bath
730pm: Harper lays down for a little nap
8pm: Kinsey gets in the bath and goes to bed
830pm: Harper eats and this is her last scheduled feeding for the day, then goes to bed. This is when I finish homework, or housework
9-930pm: I go to bed!! lol

I am quite busy during the day and dont have much time for anything else but I love it!! I get to spend so much time with my girls and I wouldnt trade that for the world :)

Here are some things Harper is now doing:
*this girl has a smile on her face ALL the time :)
*she is very talkative and will keep me up for hours in the middle of the night if I allow it
*she is so laid back..she doesnt require a lot of attention
*her favorite thing to do is lay on her back and play with her sister
*heaven forbid if I leave her on her stomach for too long, I get yelled at for that lol
*she sleeps 7 straight hours at night and sleeps SOOOO good, she is quite noisy though haha I cant turn on the monitor or else I would be up all night.
*Harper is a champ with a bottle.  She will drink 3+ oz in about 7 min or less lol I started her on a bottle sooner then I did with Kinsey so we wouldnt run into any problems... I learned the hard way with Kinsey!
*She is now wearing size 0-3 month clothes. (I still have her wear size newborn onsies because they still fit and I just cant accept the fact she is growing up...tear.)

She is such an easy and happy baby and is loved so much!

smiles

she loves this spot on the couch ha



binkie Queen lol



smile!

Leo the Lamb



she loves to slide down the lovesac...



and usually falls! but she gets up and goes right back to it

silly goose eating her snack and watching Sesame Street ha



BFF



she takes such good care of her sister.. it melts my heart!

Kinsey gives her about a million and one kisses a day :)

Welcome 2012!

Yes I know its 19 days into 2012 and I am JUST posting about our New Years, but give me a break haha I have been so so so very busy..

Our New Years this year was very simple.. We went to Brandon's parents house for dinner and just hung out as a family.  We were party poopers and came home at 9 o'clock to get the girls to bed and I went to bed shortly after lol.  I cannot remember a single New Years that I didnt stay up for the count down, its amazing what becoming a mommy does to you :).  Brandon and I did know when the countdown began because our nice, courteous, respectful neighbors went outside and yelled at the top of their lungs. (by the way, those neighbors are NONE of those nice words I just said haha) So I rolled over, looked at Brandon and said "Happy New Years" and went back to sleep hahahaha!

2011 Was such a great year for us.  We bought our first home together, I was able to quit my day job and become a full time mommy,  Kinsey turned 1 and took her first steps, took a fun family vacation to San Diego,found out we were pregnant with our second little girl and Harper joined our family, Brandon got promoted to have his very own store, and we got our family dog Leo!  I am so excited to see what 2012 has for us, so far its been busy busy busy but thats ok :)

Miss Harps hanging out on New Years :)

I absolutly LOVE my family!!!

Kinsey Beans hyper on "juice" (thats what she calls soda lol)

3 weeks old..

Well our baby Harper is now 3 weeks old! Time sure does fly by so fast, even more so with 2 kiddos!  She is doing so well and I am just barely starting to adjust to life again :) 

We left the hospital after Harper was just 24 hours old because Brandon and I were dying to spend time with the WHOLE family and since Kinsey wasnt able to come up to the Labor and Delivery floor we missed her oodles!  We couldnt leave 1 min before she was 24 hours old so we sat around waiting.. and waiting.. it took forever for 3 o'clock to roll around haha When we got home my mom met us there with Kinsey and the girls met each other for the first time.  It was a tender moment for sure! Kinsey immediately bonded with her little sister and was giving her so many kisses and wanted to hold her.  And any time Harper would grunt or whine Kinsey was right there to see what was wrong.  We were all so so so relieved :) 

We're BUSTIN' outta here!

this is my favorite!

When Harper was just a few days old she had a check up at the drs to check her bilirubin levels and her weight..  Her weight was AMAZING!  She had only lost 4 oz and for a breastfed baby thats perfect!  But her bilirubin levels on the other hand were high.. So that meant we would be taking her in everyday until they went down.  Luckily we were able to go to McKay Dee to get the test done the next day instead of driving clear out to Pleasant View.  That next day her levels were even higher!!! She went clear up to a 16! (anything over a 20 is very dangerous for their health) So my super mommy mode kicked in and I fed Harper religiously EVERY 2 hours.  It would take me about 45-60 min to feed her each time so that was only leaving me with an hour of rest before I was back at it feeding her again.  I did this for 24 hours non stop, yes even through the night!  Then the next morning I took Harper back out to her Dr in pleasant view to have her levels checked again and it had dropped to a 12.5!  I was so happy they went down and happy that I would be able to get some much needed rest lol 
As if the stress of Harpers bilirubin levels wasnt enough, Kinsey came down with a HORRIBLE cold a few short days later! It even turned into croup and she had to be seen at the drs.  I think they should have a punch card for moms with more then 1 kid because I feel like I will be living at the drs office haha and once you get your "punch" card filled up you get a free visit or something lol!!!  She got a steroid shot to prevent her vocal cords from swelling anymore and thats about all her dr could do for her.  The next 10 days after that are all a complete blurr!  I slept MAYBE 2 hours each night and they were not a straight 2 hours.. it was like 20 min at a time ha.  I had Kinsey sleep with me because her cough was so bad at night it would scare her and she would have a hard time breathing, then I had Harper on the other side of me in her bassinet.  It was a rough time... Then when Kinsey started to get a little better, Harper came down with a head cold! (Not croup THANK GOODNESS!!!) But a newborn with a stuffy nose is not fun and its quite sad :( and then of course if we werent miserable enough, I got sick too! Luckily we were all better by Christmas!!! :)

During the time Harper was sick, she had her 2 week check up.  She had gained all the weight she had lost, back and weighed 7.12lbs (25th percentile) and was now 20.25 (50th percentile) inches long and her head FINALLY made it onto the charts and is in the 3rd percentile lol. So she is tall and skinny with a small head!

Now that everyone is feeling better and we are starting go get into the grind of things I am lovin life as a mommy of 2!  My work has tripled and there is never enough time in the day but the satisfaction of being able to raise and be with my girls all the time is the BEST!

such a proud BIG sister!

her hair naturally does that.. mine was the same way :)

they were watchin cartoons..

Harper is on a set schedule now eating every 2.5 to 3 hours.  She sleeps 4-5 hours straight at night and LOVES to grunt, grunt, grunt!  She is just like Kinsey was!!  Harper loves to be in on all the action and if you dont include her she makes sure you know she is not happy.  She hates her bassinet and loves her crib, but I havent put her in her own room yet because she still has a stuffy nose at night and I like to be able to check on her lots.  She is still wearing size newborn but fits into size 0-3 month clothes.  We all love her so much and we are so happy she is in our family!

We love you Miss "Harpcicle"! 

Day out with Mommy!

This post is kinda late and a little out of order but it is just  TOO important to be left out :)

I decided to take Kinsey out for a day of just fun and me and her time before I had Harper.  I had always wondered what the Tree House Museum was like so thats where we went!  We got up and ready for the day and headed out for some fun.  When we got there Kinsey was so excited!  She made herself right at home and played with everything!!!  I had a hard time getting down to her level to play with my full term belly and tight jeans (I should have worn my comfy sweat pants lol).  But I made the best of it and had a BLAST!  We played dress up, cowboys and Indians, made sushi, created quite the noise with all their musical instruments, and didnt have a care in the world.  I didnt care that the parents were looking at me funny as I chased her around lol I had fun and felt like a kid again!

cutest cowgirl i ever did see :)

she knows to wash her hands before she starts cooking haha

there were multiple stations with these phones and they had someone talking about each thing, well Kinsey  would pick up the phones and talk to the ppl haha

Harper's Birth Story

She is finally here!! It took a few tries but we now have our little girl here!  Wednesday November 30th I had a normal OB appointment and not much had changed since the time before.  I left feeling frustrated and upset that I wasn't going to have a November baby but we had decided to schedule an induction for that Friday Dec 2nd.  Brandon went to work that afternoon and I drank Mountain Dew and was going going going all day trying to get things moving along.  Well I started to contract hard around 430 and decided to start counting.  They were coming every 4-6 min!! I called Brandon to give him a heads up just in case and started to make dinner for Kinsey.  The whole time I was making dinner I was in pain from my contractions and that made Kinsey worried so she wanted to be held and wouldn't leave my side.  This made things 10x harder.. I then decided to call Brandon and tell him to get home and started packing our bags.  We got to the hospital around 730 pm and they admitted me into their triage room.  My mom met us at the hospital to keep Kinsey entertained :)  When they admitted me I was dilated to a three and they hooked me up to all the monitors.  After about 45 min of just sitting there contracting I had to get up and walk around.  Kinsey and I held hands and walked around the labor and delivery floor for about 20 min then the nurse told me she wanted to check and see if i had progressed.  I hadnt.... So she called my dr and he wanted me to stay and be induced that night but Mckay has stick rules about inducing before 39 weeks and I was only 38 weeks and 5 days!! 2 Days shy of being induced!!!!!! I wanted to chuck my cup of ice when the nurse told me I had to go home and come back if the contractions got more intense.  I bawled!!  My mom offered to take Kinsey back to her house for the night just in case my contractions did get worse later and I had to head back to the hospital.  I bawled even more when I had to say good bye to Kinsey.  Brandon and I decided to hang out at the hospital for a little bit longer just in case and he had a $9 salad and I ate a piece of pecan pie lol After we were done with that I was sick of that place and just wanted to get home and see if I could progress the labor.  I cried and cried the whole way home and for hours after we got home because I missed my Kinsey and I was pissed the nurse sent me home haha  My contractions eventually slowed down and I was able to go to sleep around 3am.  My dr called me the next morning to see how I was feeling and to tell me he tried to have the nurses induce me early but they didnt want to chance getting in trouble and it would have caused a BIG mess for him to dig out too.. He is really THE BEST dr!!  Oh and did I mention that earlier that day my drs nurse told me Mckay didnt have any avail spots for inductions on the 2nd so they scheduled me for the 3rd! ugh haha

Finally the day of my induction arrived and I had felt like I had been in labor for days!!! I was getting no sleep and it felt like she was going to fall out of me when I walked (TMI sorry haha)  We arrived at the hospital at 8am and sent Kinsey off with my mom again (tear!).  When we checked in the nurse told me they didnt have enough nurses on staff and to go sit and wait for a little bit while they got things ready!!! REALLY?!?!? I had waited enough already haha.  Finally around 845 they got me back into a room and hooked me up to all the monitors and asked me a million and one questions.  Then at about 10 am they started me on oxytocin to get me contracting!  When the nurse checked me she said I was only dilated to a 2!! I was so frustrated because I was a 3 on wed.. Was my cervix just deciding to close up on me haha.  The contractions started coming pretty strong around 1130 and I was having to breath and concentrate with each one.  When they started coming every 3 min they broke my water and thats when they really started to hurt!! No pain, no game right?! Around 1 pm I started asking for my epidural because I knew it would take about an hour to get it and I was not liking the pain.  I got my epidural at 145pm and was happy as a clam after that :) I LOVE modern medicine! I was dilated to a 5 at that point.  About 45 min after my epidural was placed I started to feel a lot of pressure (I dont like to be totally numb so I could still feel the pressure with each contraction) and I felt like I needed to push!  So I called in my nurse and asked her to check me and her eyes got HUGE!! She immediately said "your at a 10!!! I need to call your dr NOW!" haha so i hurried to call my mom since I wanted her in the room too!  My dr arrived very fast and the nurse informed me that we wouldnt be able to wait much longer if the baby's heart rate continued to drop.  I decided to start pushing even though my mom had not gotten there yet... After 2 short pushes baby Harper was in the world!  My dr even let brandon help deliver (he was hesitant at first but Randy was persistent and I am glad because how cool is that, that Brandon got to help deliver his daughter).  My mom missed the delivery by just min :(

waiting for the dr to come so I could have Harper!

Harper Lucille Kunz

6 lbs 15 oz and 20 inches LONG!

December 3rd, 2011 at 254 pm (my brother Colton's birthday!)

I decided to do immediate skin to skin with Harper and that was SO amazing!! They put her right on my chest and cleaned her up there instead of taking her away. I wish I knew about that option with Kinsey..  She was so perfect and reality then hit me that I am a mommy of 2! 

My dr Randy Alejo was AMAZING!!!  I am so glad I got to know him working at Ogden Clinic and I wish I would have met him sooner because I would have totally had him as my OB for Kinsey!  He treated me so well and I didnt feel like "just another patient!"  I had his personal number and was able to reach him 24/7 and ask him any question whenever.  He involved Brandon in the delivery and gave me a huge hug after Harper was born congratulating me.  Delivery was so relaxing and I didnt feel one bit of stress or anxiety :)  It makes me sad that this pregnancy is over because now I wont be seeing him or his staff as often.  They really are awesome!

BEST dr!

she has a GREAT pair of lungs.. lol

me and my girl :)

this pic just cracks me up.. this is how the pediatrition left her lol

Well its getting late and since I am a mommy of 2 perfect girls I need to get to bed... I will update more when I have a spare second haha

Thanksgiving 2011

Wow I am so behind on blogging its sad... I really NEED to get better about this..

Our Thanksgiving was perfect this year! We only went to one place and got to fully enjoy our day :)  We went to my mom's house and ate until we couldn't fit anymore into our belly's haha It was just a small family gathering so it wasn't too noisy and I feel like I got to visit with everyone!
Kinsey had a blast! We played outside and she learned how to throw a football (dad was proud), and made a mess of grandma's toy room. 

I am so thankful for my family and for all they do for me! I truly have the BEST life and I wouldn't have it any other way :)

Hope everyone else had a great TURKEY DAY!