Catch-up Post (Really long)

Wow has time flown by.  I was just looking at how long it's been since I posted on any of my blogs.  Crazy.  I only have a few pictures to share.  The first 2 pictures are from Conference weekend.  Chad is serving in the Young Men's organization in our ward and the YM's President decided that it would be a good activity to take the YM and their fathers down for the Priesthood session and hope to get stand-by tickets.  So they loaded up that morning and headed to Temple square and after waiting in a long line all afternoon did eventually make it into the Priesthood session of conference.  Made for a really long day of driving for Chad, but I think it was a good opportunity to get to know the boys better and make some memories with them.  

So with Chad being out of town Kherrington and I went and hung out with my family in Idaho Falls.  Since I've been back working at EIRMC on occasion, (only 2 days a month), Kherrington gets the opportunity to spend some great time with Grandma and "Papa" as she says.  We usually go up the night before my shift and she always heads right into Papa's bedroom to see if he's already in bed and to give him hugs.  Since he gets up around 4 am for work.  It's pretty cute.  And then she plays the entire day with Grandma and loves every minute of it.   I also love coming to pick her up and have her be so happy to see me and ready to go see Dad too.  What a sweet little girl.   

My brother Derek and his family came up on Saturday morning also and we had a fun day of Conference watching and food of course.  Then Derek's kids talked Britt and him into letting them stay the night and the adult stayed up later and chatted.  Something we all love to do but never get the opportunity without all those interruptions that come with kids!!

So this is Sunday morning during the morning session where Kherrington is hanging out with Papa.

And this a just a few minutes later.  So cute!  Have to say that I get this same reaction at times with conference, even though I love conference and I'm just greatful for a DVR that records it so I can rewatch them at home. It was sad to have to  wake her up about 20 minutes later so we could meet Chad in Blackfoot to have lunch with his family.  Which was also great to see everyone and have a house full of people to watch the afternoon session!!

The next pictures are from a random day that Kherrington though she needed her entire basket of hair bows and flowers out and she needed them all in her hair!!                  

She think she's hot stuff you can see it in her face.  Loved every minute of it!!  What a silly girl.  The other thing I wanted to mention, just so Chad and I could remember is that you can see Kherrington's pajamas in the background on the floor underneath the seat with the massager on it.  This is one of Kherrington's favorite places to hide from us (or more Mom, cause I don't want to use the energy the climb over the bean bag chair to get to her) when we need to get her dressed.  She'll put her "B" (blanket) back there and cover her head and pull the bean bag up close and hide.  It's so funny to see her starting to understand the concept of hiding a little better than just, "If I don't see you...you don't see me."

HEY, HEY, HEY!

I just had to write this down this morning cause I can't forget it.  Yesterday I decided that I'd make some angel food cake, since we had fresh strawberries and blueberries in the fridge and I have another bountiful basket coming tomorrow.
So it was getting close to Kherrington's bedtime and I was ready so I got the whipping cream ready and got Chad and I a plateful of angel food cake with fruit and whipping cream. It just sounded so good to me!  I was excited.  Well as soon as we sat down Kherrington decided she wanted a bite.  I was a little surprised cause she'd eaten tons of strawberries earlier when I had cut them up.  But after a few bites that Dad was so nice to share, she just stole his entire plate and ran over to the loveseat with it and then came back to get the fork.
It was cute to see her tactics.  Then when Chad followed her over after she'd grabbed the fork, she grabbed the plate and said, "Hey, Hey, Hey!!" and ran around the living room with the plateful of dessert.  Now this probably isn't very funny to anyone else, but I've found after the fact of hearing it, that Hey hey hey is what I say to get her attention when she'd doing something she's not supposed to. And it's funny that she's saying it to Chad when all I wanted to do is say it and grab that plate of dessert before it ended up on the carpet!!
It's amazing what they pick up and things I've never even realize that I say....I'm just glad I'm not one who curses.

What we've been up to...

So I thought these pictures were totally appropriate today since we woke up to more snow today.  These pictures were from several weeks ago though, since I'm so on top of my family blogging lately.  Really if you want to see what I've been up to you can see the posts on my craft, etc blog on the side bar and add on the  extra shifts that I've been picking up and that is how I've been spending my time.  

So isn't this the cutest little snow suit.  My friend Brittni let us borrow it a while ago and we finally got to use it.  It's so cute i

Here she is in prep to go outside!!

 

I can't believe this, of course instead of getting the reaction, the mom in me turned it off so I could really see her reaction!!

Chad is trying to talk her into coming inside.  THis is after the sledding and shoveling off the driveway.  

And I just had to share this.  This was 2 days later, she wanted to go out again...and isn't this appropriate outdoor wear?

Crazy entertaining girl!!  We love her

YUM!!!

So several weeks ago during Chad's lunch break we were sitting on the couch together and Kherrington was running around us and playing.  Chad asked her to go take a piece of paper to the garbage and away she went.  She's been doing that pretty well for a while.  But once she went over there, it wasn't just opening the cupboard and putting the garbage in and then shutting.  She paused....then all of a sudden we hear YUM!!!  Chad and I just looked and each other, just picturing all the not YUMMY things that she could be getting into in the trash.
As we rounded the peninsula corner we saw that she had grabbed the yogurt lid off of Chad yogurt from lunch and was licking it.  Thank heaven it was right on top and hadn't been contaminated yet.  It just makes me want to throw up!!

So then we set her up with a yogurt of the same type and let her go at it.  Why is it when you give a child the container they eat it so much better.  And she loves eating it off the peel-off top.  Crazy little girl. It makes us love her all the more.

Kherrington update

So I realized that I haven't really posted many pictures lately.  Kherrington is growing so fast and is so intelligent.  She totally answers all the questions you ask.  But if her answer is a "yes" all you get is a head nod.  But you better believe that if the answer is no, she says it.  One of her most used words.  She also can say grandpa!  It's so cute, while I've been at work that last few weeks, then Kherrington stays home with Grandma Joos and we go the night before so we don't have to wake up at 4:30 am to get to Grandma's and work on time.  She get so excited to see her grandparent's.  I love to see it!

And this is here new favorite seat!!  In the fridge, and most of the time I can't get her out of it.  Really funny!  So I have to be careful to see how close she is before I open the door, cause who knows how long it'll take for me to get her out of it and I can guarantee she's not happy when it happens.

She also is on a straight milk kick.  It's all she want to drink and it cut into her appetite if I'm not careful.  She does love to eat potatoes, rice, broccoli, and green beans.  Other things she loves are chips of any kind, tacos, and Subway sandwiches.  We just recently found the Subway one out, but loves to eat it just like an adult.

She is also on a huge animal kick, expecially dogs.  This summer my grandparent's came for a visit to my parent's and brought their little pug "Pug" with them.  She was so nervous when he was around, but would seek him out with an adult whenever he wasn't within seeing distance.  It's now gotten to the point where she has to pet every dog she sees (with an adult though, not brave enough to do it on her own).  Chad and I have been slowly been getting used to the idea of getting a dog, so now we have to go through all the options of dog breeds that will work for our needs.  We need a dog that can be outside, not a huge shedder, and not extremely high energy.  Anyone have any ideas?

 Kherrington loves to go visit Chad at work so she can see the dogs that are kenneled there. 

Here are her 15 months stats now that they are a month old.

Weight:  20 lbs 12 oz

Head circumference: 18.5 inches

Height: 30 inches

  

Kherrington's 1st birthday!

I know another late one.

But we just barely got her into see a Dr. for her one year old immunizations and I didn't have her stats at 1 year....or 13.5 months that she is now.

                               Ht: 30 inches (58%)

                              Wt: 19 lbs 12 oz (16%)

Head circumference: 18.25 in (75%)

                  6 Months

Ht: 26 inches    (57%)

Wt: 15 lbs 9.5oz (40%)

Head Circumference: 43 cm   16.93in.(64%)

                  4 months

                               Ht: 24 inches (32%) 

                               Wt: 13 lbs 6.2 oz (38%)

Head Circumference: 41 cm (45%)

               2 months

                               Ht: 23 inches (68%)

Wt: 10 lbs 12 oz (47%)

Head Circumference: 42 inches (42%)

So she's growing like crazy and I'm having a hard time keeping her fed really well.  She's fairly tall and skinny, except for the little Buddha belly.  She's been so much fun. 

We celebrated with ALL the family on the 4th of July (Sunday).  Since it was Independence Day, we did a dinner with it too.  We had homemade Cafe' Rio pork salads.  HM MM makes me hungry just thinking about it.  It was wonderful to get together with everyone

Here's her birthday cake.  She has a ladybug themed room and so for the first birthday we went with a Ladybug cake.  It's been a long time since I've done a cake, but we whipped out the fondant and away we went.  So we ended up painting the pink fondant with the red dye, but we found that if you use the entire container of frosting dye, it does go that brilliant color.  We found that out with  the black.  All the fondant was homemade and then I had to make flowers with frosting.  Man has it been a long time, but it was fun to use those skills again.



She really got into the present thing.  Totally unwrapped them like she'd done it before.

Grandma and Grandpa Joos got Kherrington a little swimming pool, a floaty with a little shade, and also some beach/sand toys, for the sandbox that Chad and I made for her!!

Grandma  and Grandpa Christensen got her a cute little dress and a jungle animal toy that plays music.  She also got hair clips a little mug, a book, and a cute little short outfits from some Aunt and Uncle's families.  She didn't even want to keep unwrapping presents once she got the mini Strawberry Shortcake mug with the hair clips in it.  She cried when we took them away from her.



Here she is finally enjoying her cake.  So basically since we've move to Chubbuck Kherrington uses a fork.  She started using an adult sized fork and just stretching her arm away from herself to give her enough room to put the end of the fork in her mouth.  So shortly after she started that, both grandma's gave her a set of silverware that she eats almost everything with.  So she started off eating her cake with a fork.   I was wondering if she'd really ever get into it.


So here are some of her milestones.
*She started walking a few steps at a time the week of her birthday, and then by 12 month and 3 weeks she's been cruising around the house.  Basically a run. Many times I've hurried to put something away in her room at the end of the hall and turn around and she's already there.  Scared me the first few times.  I not used to having a shadow!!
*Been using a spoon and fork to eat since about 11 months old.
*She loves the animal puzzle book from JaNae...those puzzle piece animals are always out of the book and scattered all over my living room.  (I totally need to make a better storage piece her stuff so my living room doesn't look like a play room 24/7)
*She loves the parking garage we bought at the neighbors garage sale.  She is always standing or sitting on it.  Scares me to death to see her do things like that already.
*She loves the little Radio Flyer quad wheeled scooter from Grandma Joos'.  I have cute video of this.  I'll get it added.  She loves to ring the bell on it and expects an applause or screams of praise when she does it.
*Also loves the yellow little car that she can push or ride on from Grandma Christensen's, which has a little horn that she can honk also!!
*She loves to get into cupboards, but is pretty good to mostly stay in one cupboard, while I keep the others off limits.  I really need to get some safety latches installed.
*She is our little button pusher. Remotes, cell phones, TV, CD players, Computers.  You name it....if it has a button she's trying to get to it to push it's buttons.  She may even throw a fit until she get to have the cell phone that you are talking to.  She already can turn the TV remote off the AUX to the SAT so it will change the channels on the TV. Too smart for our good right now.
***I love that today I found her loved  puzzle pieces in the toilet...The first thing found in the toilet.  Here we go!!****

Not expected

Warning, this is a very personal post, but I felt like I needed to write to remember and to share with others who have been there or worse.

So in the middle of the crazy ending of the school year, Chad and I were greeted with a surprise pregnancy. We had discussed that we were ready for another, but figured the best time would be to try after we got settled in Chubbuck. But apparently the Lord had another idea and we were pregnant with #2. It was shocking at first, but we were excited right from the beginning. Despite being on BCP and stopping and then bleeding and not thinking anything would be able to survive, we managed to have a positive pregnancy test in April. Debating if I should even get into see my Doctor in Pullman or wait til we get to Chubbuck, well I tried to get appointment and couldn't get in to see Dr. Minudri until the week after graduation. So since we were moving the few days after graduation I new that we wouldn't be able to go that route. But no big deal, my pregnancies have been quite simple, I don't get morning sickness and only get hunger pains if I don't eat regularly. I know I'm really lucky.
So we decided that when we got settled in at our new place we wanted to share with our families as soon as we got settled.  So we scheduled a barbecue on the pretense of being a house welcoming party, but dressing Kherrington in the Onesie we made her.

So I know it's blurry, but it says "Big sister in charge," with "Coming November 30th, 2010" on the back
They were taken with my phone and she was moving.

So we were really excited to tell our families and share in our excitement, even though we were just shy of the 12 week mark.  Well the night we announced our big news, I started bleeding and ended up bleeding at varying degrees for the next week and few days.  Meanwhile I had so nicely accepted the offer of babysitting my brother's 5 kids so my parent's could go with them to Hawaii.  It went really well considering, but maybe I should ask Chad since he was the one unpacking and making garden boxes and watching 6 kids... all so I could take it easy.  What a great husband/Dad!! 

Considering what was going on, we couldn't really take our time in finding a new OB/GYN, so we went with the first suggestion that was given to us, to find that we weren't to thrilled with the office staff and nurse and didn't even want to go to the next visit that would be with one of the PA or NP, since the Dr wouldn't be in til Wednesday. (We were scheduled to fly to Connecticut on Wednesday)  So we went searching again, only to find an office staff that gave me more information on the phone than I had received at the previous office visit.  And to find that the Dr. had a cancellation and so we got in on Monday the 24th instead of the 25th that I would have had at the other office.

So we had well over a week to stew and worry and really understand possible outcomes of what was happening.  When we went into the Dr. on Monday, we were so excited to have such a nice easy to talk to Doctor.  And even though he was the one that told us we had lost our baby, I'm so happy to have found someone I'm going to like so well!!  He was amazing sensitive and great to help us understand the follow up that was needed, along with comforting us.  And he said it was okay to go to Connecticut.  I don't know if I would have been so happy if our trip had been cancelled.  He also mentioned that when people found out the news that we'd be surprised with how many people have experienced the same thing.

As we've been looking back on the situation and trying to glean everything we could learn from it we have found quite a few blessing in the midst of it.  It has been a very big eye opener of what a great blessing to have family close.  First of all, my sister-in-law and brother that live in Pocatello with us, offered to make us dinner (all 8 of us) so that I wouldn't have to cook that night.  It was great to not worry about it.  Also the concern of family and the expression of support during the miscarriage and after we found out the bad news.  We found that it was ironic that we  started having problems the night we told our families.  At first we had just wished we had waited another week before we said anything, but quickly were so glad to have the support we were given.
Another thing that has been good for us is to have the empathy for others that have had difficulties with pregnancy.  We have 2 sets of close friends that recently have or are close to losing a baby.  It has been a very good thing to be able to understand to a small extent some of the pain and overwhelming sadness that can surround you in those type of circumstances.  It makes your prayers more fervent in their behalf.  I now know the feelings or what if I hadn't done...... fill in the blank, like help move in the piano during our move!! I can just understand the regret that comes with it.

It has shown me
It has also really helped us to really take the time to enjoy having Kherrington!!  What a blessing she is to us, just as all of God's children are.  Even though we have been hurt, we wait excitedly for when we will be blessed to have another baby enter our lives!!
And by the way, just cause we miscarried, doesn't mean we don't want to help you celebrate your expecting babies, etc, please share the news!! 

A daily Activity

So Kherrington loves to help her mom around the house, but her favorite thing is to unload the dishwasher. Here she is helping Chad. She hears that opening of the door and she comes crawling at full speed into the kitchen and unloads all the utensils all over the floor. It's so fun to see her so happy, even if I have to pick the utensil off the floor when she's done.

Kherrington's first swim- Mar 2010

So while we were home, we were able to take Kherrington for her firsst swim.  I have no idea, but even when I was pregnant with her, I really wanted to go swimming, but thought that I would spare everyone from a pregnant woman in a bathing suit.  So I didn't and we never got the chance to.  So Kherrington got to wear the same swim suit that I did when I was a baby.  She also loved the water.  Not a real big surprise since she loves the bathtub already.
Thanks to Aunt Melanie and Uncle Larry for letting us swim at their pool. We had a blast!
We got to play with all my brother's and their families, except for Ryan who's serving a mission in Georgia and Brek who is in Salt Lake.  Missed you guys.

8 month update. March 1st

Again I know it's late, but I need to post this so that I can remember.  So we've been back home in SE Idaho for the last several month while Chad has been on Vet rotations.   One month into our stay, and on her 8 month Kherrington got to try on her Nike tennies that Chad and I had picked out months ago.  We had a great deal of buying a pair of shoes and getting a pair half off.  I didn't need any shoes so we looked in the kid section to see what we could find.  We thought they were so cute!

So the day we pulled them out she also started crawling.  She'd been up on her hands and knees for weeks, but not going anywhere.  She never did the army crawl, but once in a while would push with her right hand and then lean forward to lunge at things.


Sorry for my cheesy laugh. All I can chalk that up to is the crazy happiness that kids bring to your life!!

Johnny Jumper

Since we came back from being in Idaho, we borrowed Grandma Joos' Johnny jumper.  Oh man does this little girl love thing.  Below is a video of her showing off for Grandpa Joos, when he and Grandma Joos were up for a visit last week..  Sorry for the sound effects, but every time I see it I have to make that sound.  I swear she's going to be a dancer just from this video.

.

We sure enjoyed having my parent's here with us, and big thanks to Grandma Joos that saves our bacon (and money) and comes to watch Kherrington while I worked several day over a week stretch!!!

Kherrington 6 month check-up

So on Jan 7th, Kherrington had her 6 month check-up and is still doing great.
I just can't believe that she's 6 months old.  She did great with her immunizations again. YEAH!!

So here's her stats:

Ht: 26 inches    (57%)

Wt: 15 lbs 9.5oz (40%)

    Head Circumference: 43 cm        (64%)

She's accomplishing so many stepping stones in her development.  It's really exciting to sit and watch her grow.  It really amazes me.
 So some things that I've noticed just recently, is her attention to detail. She's starting to focus on small things that I'm surprised she even sees.  Like a blonde piece of my bangs that is hanging down in front of my eyes, so she starts to try to hold it using her thumb and forefinger, but ends up using her fist.  Then you watcher her try to pick up other small things with the same 2 fingers.  Not that she's overly capable with them yet.  I just love to see her try.  She is noticing strings, so when I have a sweatshirt on...the hoody tie is what catches her attention.
Just this last week she has started rolling from her back to her right side...Something that she hasn't done much up until this time. So now I see her do it all the time.  I used to like to put her in her crib to sleep so her left side was right against the crib pad.  Just so she couldn't turn over and just play on her stomach.  I know, I'm a mean mother, but it was helpful for a little while.  Now I find her and she's rolled to her right side over and over again until she's against the other side of the crib.
So now she can roll from her back and stomach both directions.  She's also starting to  propel herself forward a little, trying to reach for things that she's moved away from.  Every once in a while I'll catch her and she'll have one knee under herself.  It's only a matter of time before she'll be crawling.  She already move backwards by pushing herself and then she'll turn a 360 on her stomach to change directions or things she's playing with.
Chad and I are so in love with this girl, and can't believe we're so lucky to have her in our family!

Kherrington 4 month check-up

Ht: 24 inches (32%) 

Wt: 13 lbs 6.2 oz (38%)

Head Circumference: 41 cm (45%)

So Kherrington is a "perfect little baby" as Dr. Adkins says.  She did great with her vaccines again and really her demeanor didn't change too much yesterday. He said that I could start her on cereal if I'd like too, but didn't have too since she was growing and gaining weight as she should.   Go KHERRINGTON!!

Joos visit-July 6th

We spent time with my family on Sunday.  My brother Ryan was leaving for his mission and having his farewell the next Sunday.  It was nice to be able to spend some more time with him before he left.  When we were home last, I said goodbye thinking it would be the last time that I'd see him before he left. (that was like 7 weeks before he was to leave).  Labor day weekend my family was originally going to be up at Mel and Larry's cabin in Island park, but since we ended up coming in town that weekend, they just camped out my parent's house and did fun things all weekend long.  We were able to get in a great dinner of 7-Up Chicken and corn on the cob. MMMM!

Monday Chad and I went to the Eastern Idaho State Fair, look in the future for that post... But then Chad left Monday evening to get back in time for his rotation the next day.

Kherrington and I stayed til Wednesday so we could have some more time with Ry.  It was great to have that time to spend with him.  It was great to see him so excited to just get out in the field.

Kherrington fell asleep and as Grandpa and Mom were talking and watching TV. Here she is in on hand

pajamas from Grandma Joos' stash (leftover for all of her kids).  Isn't it gorgeous!!  It sure came in handy 

when she pooped on the others. 

Stephanie and Marcus' Wedding-Sept. 5

So we never even thought that it would be a possibility that we'd be able to make it down for Stephanie and Marcus' wedding.  But with it being Labor Day weekend and getting the Monday off, Chad talked to the people in his rotation to see if it was possible for him the have the entire weekend off.  They were kind enough to take those shifts and we took advantage of the 3 day weekend and flew up on Saturday morning.  We needed to be at the airport in Lewistion by 5:30,(So we got up at 4am to leave by 4:45) but with the difficulty of getting out the door with everything, we didn't get there until  6:00am.  The airport staff wasn't really excited about it, but there were a few others that needed to check in a bag after us too. This was Kherrington's first flight.  I was 23 years old for my first flight.  Man is she spoiled.  But they went really well and she did so great on the 2 legs of the flight.

We flew into Idaho Falls,just in time for my parents to drop off a car for us and hit the tail end of the luncheon and then to the sealing.  Chad was nervous that I would forget my temple recommend and the night before reminded me, but when we got to the temple, guess you had their temple recommend and who had forgotten theirs!!  Yep.  Chad didn't have his recommend so once again we had to call Bishop Udy so Chad could get to attend the sealing.  It was a beautiful day and we were so glad to be a part of it!  Thanks to Erica for watching Kherrington while we in the temple!

Later that night we got to hang out at the reception and eat yummy food.  Kherringtont was being

grumpy by that time and so we basically couldn't have anyone hold her, but let her lay on the floor

in the gym.  She's just not used to having so many hands willing to hold her all the time and plays

very well on her own. I feel bad not letting anyone hold her, cause they don't get the chance often.

Boy was she grouchy though.  Sorry all!!

Christensen Reunion July 23-25

So we went to a cabin in Kilgore Idaho for the Christensen reunion, and we were lucky enough to get the room in the cabin since we had Kherrington.  It was so nice to have a little area close to everything.  I think we would have been on the outs a lot if we weren't right in the middle of it! Thanks JaNae! It was beautiful weather and the surroundings were wonderful too.  Carlos' family also got to use the loft.  So lucky for everyone, by this time Kherrington was only waking up once a night about 2:30-3:00 AM.  Chad went on a horse ride on Camero.  Camero wasn't cooperating as well as normal and Chad was pretty sore.
I was just able to enjoy the time in the cabin and the trees where everyone's trailers were parked.

Kherrington's 2 month Check-Up- Sept 3

So today has been a very busy day.  It's started off with Kherrington and I going with Chad to school so we could watch him give his Senior Paper Presentation.  He did such a great job!! He did his paper on CEM or Contagious Equine Metritis.  It's a venereal disease of horses, that was thought to be eradicated at one point, but has a current outbreak in the US.  I've come to learn a lot through this study about the subject, but was totally amazed and how well he presented the subject and made it move so smoothly!!  Way to go Chad.  One major thing down and now it's bring on the boards!!
Then shortly after that, Kherrington and I got to go for a check-up with Dr. Adkins.  Kherrington passed with flying colors.  The doctor is so pleased with her growth and she dramatically is climbing on the percentile charts and catching up with the majority of other infants her age, even though the doctor's haven't really ever been worried about her!!

So here's her stats:

Ht: 23 inches (68%)

Wt: 10 lbs 12 oz (47%)

Head Circumference: 42 inches (42%)

Dr. Adkins was nice enough to find out the exact percentile for me this time, so I didn't have to eyeball it off the graphs they give us each visit. Now the sad thing is that I knew going in today that she would be getting her vaccinations.  So I was a little apprehensive, cause I just didn't know how'd she'd react. And of course she cried, which made me tear up.  (I'm still blaming it on my hormones!!) I just have to keep remembering that it's important that she has them to prevent future suffering, or to relate to Chad's presentation today, to keep those diseases eradicated from the US.  But as soon as I picked her up she quieted right down and the nurse was so surprised!  "Oh wow, is that it?" she asked.  So apparently she did amazingly well, which I'm not surprised, cause she really has been such a good baby! I know that was a great reaction too, cause I heard a baby next door for a while before the Dr. came in and the nurse explained they had lots of vaccinations to do today. We're so blessed to have her!

Just this last week Kherrington has started sleeping through the night.  She sleeps between 8-10 hrs each night now!!  Which has been wonderful!!  I've finally stopped pumping in the middle of the night since I have a freezer full of milk!! So now I'm feeling great with the less interrupted sleep!!

Also when I go to get her out of her crib in the morning she is usually any which way, but the direction I placed her in the crib.  (Sorry for the horrible picture.  It was taken on my iphone in the dark.)
So I know now that I can't leave her alone anywhere without being totally braced in, and I know that won't last long either.  Wow! She's just grown so fast and I can't believe how the time has flown.
So tomorrow marks my first day back to work.  I only have an 8 hr day, cause we have to get ready to fly to Idaho Falls on Saturday for Chad's nephew, Marcus' wedding!!. Yeah, but BOO HOO for going back to work.  That is the other reason I'm going to use to explain the tears at the Dr's office today!!

Kherrington's 1 month check-up- Aug 4th

So on Kherrington's 1 month check-up she was doing great. Dr. Adkins had no concerns and informed that most of what Kherrington had on her face was the baby acne, but that the redness to her ears and on her eyebrows was probably cradle cap, and that it's go away when her skin starts producing the right amounts of oils. Nothing I can do to help that. So shes doing really good.Dr. Adkins asked if she was sleeping through the night, but with all the traveling she's done I felt really good about the 5 hour and then a 4 hour stretch that she'd been sleeping pretty consistently from the 2nd night home. There have been a few nights were she ate every 3 hrs, but still has done wonderful. She's getting stronger through her neck and still like to try holding her head up whenever she's laying on your shoulder. She's also making cooing sounds, which are fun to hear!!

Here's her Stats:

Ht:20 1/2 inches (25%)

Wt: 8 lbs 1.8 oz (about 20%)

Head Circumference: 14 1/2 inches (almost 50%)

Wrigley Reunion July 16-19

So this year the Wrigley reunion was held at Reunion Flats in the Grand Tetons(Just past Driggs WY). Kherrington and I went with my parent's and brother Ryan and met at Derek's to finish loading some some bikes in the trailer. We got up there on Thursday July 16th late afternoon/evening and we were assigned dinner that night. So we got to getting dinner ready right away. Spaghetti and garlic french bread. Yum!!

So afterward we set up our camp sites. Kherrington and I were camping in my parent's utility trailer. I had brought our double decker twin air mattress and then my parent's pack and play. Mom even set up a lawn chair in the corner so I could use it to breast feed at night. We used a propane lantern to help heat up the place and light up the trailer while I was breastfeeding. It worked pretty great. Kherrington did pretty good, besides wanting to eat every 3-4 hours, she did awesome! She kept warm with the pajama sleeper we had her in and an afghan that I received from a co-worker. She has this nasty habit of struggling until her hands are free from her swaddling, so she had some cold little hands at times when we got up to feed. Kherrington didn't have too hard of a time warming them up by placing them on the bare portions of skin. BURRR it was cold when you're not wrapped up. Grandpa Joos had a great idea of putting warm water in a plastic bottle and we wrapped it and placed it in the bassinet with her. It was AWESOME, it was like having a heater in the bed with her. Thanks Dad!!

Kherrington had lots of offers to hold her. Some of the most persistent ones were, Halle, Kaia, Cassidy, Breanna, and Aunt Mel. Here's a picture of Halle taking her turn.

When someone wasn't holding her and between feedings we'd let her rest in her car seat that was padded with a blanket. It got pretty warm during the day, but as long as we stayed under the shade of the huge pine trees we stayed pretty comfortable. At least I was comfortable, but this is how Kherrington would work her way into laying almost every time she was down.
I have no idea how that is anyway comfortable, but it may explain how she was in my belly...head down in my pelvis with those feet up kicking my ribs on the right side and that little bum on left side of my tummy!! That really was how she was most of the pregnancy.

Aunt Edith had many fun activities planned, most of which Kherrington and I didn't participate in, cause of the proximity of the birth. On Friday, the majority of the camp hiked to Table Rock. One thing is that I'm not hiker, let alone still taking Tylenol and ibuprofen around the clock for pain control, which pretty much did the job. But Dad, Ryan, Derek, and Brittney went from our family. Way to go! Something I'll probably never do, but I admire those that can and do enjoy it.

That afternoon Edith had the beaded watch bands craft that are so popular right now. I didn't have a need of another watch and so I didn't make one, but I wish I had watched more carefully so I could make one later, maybe for gifts. She had very beautiful beads and such an assortment!! That evening we had a program and games about the Independence of the USA. We had a trivia game and Uncle Mark talked about the importance of our freedom and the appreciation we should all have for those who have and do serve our country to keep us free. It was a neat evening and I learned a lot of facts I didn't know about past presidents and our country.

On Saturday it was Luau day. In the afternoon we did our first annual duck race and Kherrington's duck won a prize. So here's a picture of her at my parent's home in her froggie jammies in her froggie chair "that she'll grow into." Isn't she cute! I just love it.

After the duck race, we got into teams and we had to decide who from our team would do a hula hoop contest, limbo contest. These both needed 2 people. Also 3 people to do the balloon toss, 1 to toss balloons and 2 to catch with a towel. They also had one that was for a man to do, but was left a mystery what they would have to do. On my team was Uncle Tom, Uncle Larry, Cousin Natalie and Lacey, Lacey's little girl Amy, and Jack (Tiffany's 3rd child). So I got to do the Limbo and was supposed to be one of the 3 for the balloon toss.

I thought at first that I'd only be doing the balloon toss. Well I got 2nd place in the Limbo, came in right after Aspen. Who knew that a newly post pregnant lady could do so well at Limbo, with a rear ender that is tender, a chest bigger than it's ever been (therefore much more top heavy than I'm used to). It was crazy! But I was glad to contribute a few points for our team. Then Kherrington got a crying shortly there afterwards and needed to be fed, so Natalie stepped in and did the balloon toss for me. They did really great. Here's a picture of the kids sitting in the grass just awaiting the next event.

We concluded with the finale' of the men's competition. So the men had to dress up in a grass skirt and coconut shells and strut their stuff on the picnic tables you see in the picture above. It was the cat walk. It was voted by the cheering by the crowd. It was so funny. All my mom and I could think was, "I'm so glad that Chad wasn't here, wouldn't he just die if he was chosen to do this!!!" Even though I missed Chad terribly, at least I got to talk to him on the phone, cause we had cell phone coverage!! Oh YEAH!! But it also gave me a chance to care for Kherrington almost all by myself. My parent's were busy helping watch the rest of the grand kids, so on occasion they'd come take her, or someone else would hold her, but I did most of it. It was nice way to start transitioning into the days that I knew would be coming later.
After that evenings meal we went home to get ready for the Sabbath and ther responsiblities that they had at church. Some of the rest stayed the night and left the following morning. We just never seem to get enough time. I could have stayed for days more, despite the freezing cold mid night feedings.

Kherrington 2 week check-up- July 13th

Dr. Adkins was out of the office for vacation right before we were scheduled to leave for Idaho, so we went and saw Olivia Ullrich NP. She was way nice and Kherrington "seems to be great".

Olivia told me about an experience that she had a new mother that I found so funny. But she was freaking out because she went to breast pump and her milk came out green tinged. (I probably would do the same thing). Turns out the peas she ate the day before, the pigment is transfered through breastmilk thus the greenish tint!! FUNNY HUH. I would never had thought. She was just explaining that if we had any questions to feel free to call the office.

Here's her stats:

Ht: 19 1/2 inches (50%)

Wt:6 lbs 8.4 oz (about 20%)

Head Circumference: 14 inches (about 60 %)